11

The Forging

It was well known that the King and the Bride were matchless in combat and were the only ones who could take on the other. Yet, this was the first time that she had bonded with a soul beast that did not belong to her or the King. There were many dragons in the northern realms, but a Sān sè Lóng was a rare being. It was even rarer for one to bond with someone other than its own master. These were fiercely loyal beings who had a low tolerance for anyone other than their masters seeking to ride them.

The Tiānshǐ explained this as Wěi Hóng was birthed by the blue waters of the Bride. The story of how Jiàn Shēng had knocked the egg over and the Bride being present at that time was also shared widely.

Jiàn Shēng smiled as he rode Wěi Hóng over the Southern realms. ‘You love her like I do!’ he whispered as he stroked the neck of the magnificent being. The heart of a soul beast can often change along with its master due to the strength of their bonding and loyalty. No one suspected such a reason as it was unthinkable for one of the Tiānshǐ to even consider any wrongful desire towards the Bride.

The King and his beloved were on the heights of Huǒrè de bǎolěi that day. He was excited as he held her hand.

‘It is time for the forging,’ he said. She smiled and nodded her head.

The King stretched forth his right hand and seven living stones of power rose into the air from his palm. They spread out in an orientation that followed that of the realms. These were the very ones that he had searched out as treasures much earlier. All of them were filled with wisdom and carried the mind and memories of their Makers.

The King addressed the little, perfectly round, deep maroon garnet which had least power of the seven. It glowed with intensity that lit the place and could shatter things when needed, but the light lacked the ability to travel far or deep. Yet, it was the strongest and wisest of the red stones. This stone carried the secret of life in it and was distilled from a drop of the King’s core before being mixed with the waters of Shēngmìng zhī hé.

‘It is time, release the life in you,’ he told it. The stone glowed greatly as a deep, red river flowed from its heart towards the centre of the formation. These waters could never be drained dry.

Then he spoke to the iridescent, orange pearl which contained molten fire that could remove all barriers, as well as melt the things that divide.

‘We need your power now,’ he told it, and it willingly released a stream of molten fire that moved towards the centre.

With one smile of encouragement from the King, the mirror-like, pale yellow, five-dimensional stone released its fiery embers which were like a whip of gold lightening. What it bound was bound unless it could endure the testing of purification by fire.

‘Without your power, the strengths of the others that follow would work against them unless purified by you,’ he told it as its embers rose around it.

Then the Bride spoke to the tear-shaped globule that was a mix between aquamarine and sapphire. This stone had greater and wilder powers which could cleanse, heal, rebuild, and destroy as needed. Like the indigo and violet stones, its light was soft but strong with the ability to travel far and deep.

‘Release your waters,’ she gently told it as a spring of living waters broke forth from its willing heart and made its way to the formation’s centre.

The King and his beloved spoke to the indigo turtle doves that fluttered in synchrony beside each other. These stones brought peace and rest to all. In addition, more than all the others, they carried the richest memories and knowledge.

‘It is time to become one,’ they said. The doves merged so that there was just one and from its heart a stream of sweet music rose to meet the other streams at the point of conjunction.

Then they spoke to the violet stones which were one, just like the turtle doves, though they appeared as two. These stones had the power to unleash excellent rulership and the things that go with it – wisdom, resources, and riches. One was of a deep, violet hue and shaped like a basin that held living waters in it. The other was of a pastel, violet hue. Its form was the lightest of ploughshares.

‘Release your powers that serve and work the hardest grounds to yield their treasures,’ they told the pair. ‘You temper one another. The one that serves will uncover great treasures, and the one that yields riches must serve,’ the King and his beloved said aloud, almost as if they were also instructing all the other stones of the wisdom behind the most powerful of all the colored, living stones. A single stream of dust-like living waters flowed upwards from this pair. Just one more stream was needed to complete the formation.

Thus far, the paired violet stones lay in the southern orientation. The paired indigo stones with the blue lay in the northern direction. The yellow and orange were in the western orientation while the red stone occupied the eastern one.

Finally, the King spoke to the small, emerald seed. It was unlike the stones of violet, indigo, and blue that worked best in the northern and southern portals. It was also different from the yellow, orange, and red stones that were better in the eastern and western portals. Its power was effective everywhere, regardless of distance. It could balance the power of all the other stones in perfect equilibrium. In addition, it enhanced their powers to grow and multiply. It floated to the centre of the formation when he told it to.

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‘By giving, you live to be more fruitful,’ he told it as it put forth a luminous, sparkling, vine-like, green stream that grew from its heart. In appearance it was like a liquid branch. This branch encircled all the other streams binding them strongly together.

Once this was done, the King and the Bride stepped into the centre of the formation though they remained below it. They raised their hands towards the emerald seed which was now the point of conjunction of all the streams including its own. The King’s golden fire and the Bride’s blue flame shot upwards and began to forge something new out of the seven stones.

When the forging was completed, the streams disappeared along with the stones. What remained was brilliant white light that slowly floated downwards, condensing each moment like a snowflake. The Bride smiled and nodded at her beloved. He stretched forth his hand and the forged stone gently landed in his right palm.

It was a brilliant white with seven, unbreakable dendrites around a pulsating, living, heart that carried the power of all the seven stones in it. On one side the name of the King was forged in fiery gold, and on the other side, the name of the Bride. No one knew these names except the two of them, and the white, living stone. It was extremely powerful because it bore such dual power that combined their names with the resident powers of the seven living stones from which it was forged.

‘This stone is the seed of our kingdom. It builds and holds together the foundations, pillars, and the covering of all the realms and their inhabitants,’ the King said.

The Bride took out two treasures she had secretly sought and hidden from her beloved when they had made their way collecting the seven stones. Since Shēngmìng zhī hé flowed under and through the realms, carrying the Bride’s life into them, the stones that were in it in the region of Huǒrè de bǎolěi were different. These stones could transform their colors like the iridescent living beings that filled the waters.

However, there were specific conditions needed for them to gain the power of the stone into whose color they changed. The one with greater power had to give up its power and teach the one with lesser power. The one with lesser power had to give up its own inner nature and learn from the other to grow into the other’s power and nature. Thus, two lives were exchanged as were the powers while one turned into the other. These were reflective images and merged lives.

She had picked the best of the red and violet stones, combining them such that they were forged together. The purple stone was below the red and hidden, as the red stone’s hues were more vibrant. Nevertheless, the purple caused a deep undertone that affected the red overtones, making them appear richer and darker like blood. Hence it was called the ‘Bloodstone.’

She took the white, living stone from the King’s palm and placed it under the red and purple stones. Then she used the power from her palms to form a double-layered, round encasing around the white, snow heart within it. Hence this seed of the kingdom was hidden from view within the Bloodstone.

She placed the Bloodstone back in the palm of the King.

‘This seed is indeed capable of great things. This is our secret,’ she said as she kissed her beloved. They held hands and made their way down the mountain.

Jiàn Shēng and Xióng Zhǎn were at their appointed posts when the King and his Bride reached the entrance to Huǒrè de bǎolěi. The former looked at the Bloodstone in the King’s hand.

‘Another gift?’ he wondered with a little annoyance.

Xióng Zhǎn asked them, ‘How did the forging go?’ He had reached earlier than his brother and had met the King and his beloved as they were making their way up the mountain. He had learnt from them that they were going to forge something special. Jiàn Shēng had arrived a little before the King and the Bride returned from the forging and was unaware of it.

‘The forging?’ Jiàn Shēng wondered. He recalled that the Makers had spoken of this in the past.

The King showed him the Bloodstone. ‘Yes, we forged this,’ he said.

‘That looks magnificent,’ Xióng Zhǎn said as the king gave him the stone to examine. After looking at it in awe, he passed it to his brother.

Jiàn Shēng held the stone in his hand and looked at it from all angles, even raising it to let the light shine through it. ‘Just an ordinary, weak red living stone! Why did they spend time forging this?’ he thought to himself.

That was another power of the Bloodstone birthed of the Bride’s waters. It reflected exactly the same level of clarity that was in a person’s heart. Xióng Zhǎn was pure hearted and had seen the red and purple stones enclosing the beautiful dendrites of the white, living stone. Jiàn Shēng had allowed his heart to be corrupted causing his eyes to lose their power of vision to look into the heart of the Bloodstone. He saw nothing but the external hue of red, the lowliest of all the colors. He pretended to appreciate what he saw lest the Bride be disappointed.

‘Indeed! Lovely, spectacular, and powerful!’ he said with a smile as he returned the stone to the King.

The King and his beloved smiled at the brothers and nodded their farewell as they made their way across the rainbow bridge towards Méiguī shān.

Xióng Zhǎn commented, ‘That was one of the most beautiful and powerful living stones I have ever seen! The forging has birthed something so fearfully awesome!’ Since he thought his brother had seen what he had, he did not mention what exactly he beheld, or the weight of power that was in the core of the Bloodstone.

Jiàn Shēng mumbled, ‘Yes, indeed, indeed!’ as he looked distractedly after the silhouette of the Bride as she disappeared with her beloved into the mists that were slowly descending upon her mountain. Later he thought to himself, ‘This Xióng Zhǎn must either be blind or seeking the favor of the King. What a fuss over a plain red stone!’

As the Bride led the King up towards their garden on the heights of Méiguī shān, she said, ‘Look, how lovely is our dwelling place!’

He gazed at her and said, ‘Yes, how lovely are you – my beautiful dwelling place, my own scented garden!’ He meant every word of it for she was indeed such a dwelling for him. In her embrace, trapped in her wild locks, surrounded by her love in words, songs, and music, he was at perfect rest and peace.

She rested against his chest as she held the Bloodstone in her hand and looked into its heart. ‘How perfect it is! I am so pleased with what we have done,’ she said softly.

‘Hmmm…,’ he said dreamily as he held her in his embrace.

‘When the purple becomes red and the red becomes purple, the heart within will burst out with power and life,’ she said with certainty.

‘Yes, this seed holds the power of our kingdom, and that power is love,’ the King affirmed as they smiled together, and gazed upon the Bloodstone.