75. Union

Despite the looming march of undead mere days away, the streets of Resh Fali were filled with celebrations as not one, but three weddings were announced by their leaders.

The decision of Di Ram to take the mother of Po Guah as a second wife brought forth waves of joy to everyone who heard the story. How Di Ram had sheltered the mortal woman on the way south, with their affection slowly growing over the course of months in their relationship as master and servant. How these feelings had evolved in complexity and intensity after the untimely death of Po Sana’s husband. How he had sought and obtained permission from the fox-like Lady Tonilla to make his love official…

It was like a thing from a story, and both the women and men spread the telling through the streets like wildfire.

Then there were the three dao companions of the Peach Blossoms, who had decided to use the opportunity before the battle to make their relationship official. Their own tale of being thrust together by fate and finding true love in each other, and more than love, was tinder to the already blazing rumor mill.

And finally, the lovers Hien Ro and Yara had decided that they had given her father enough time to come forward, and that if they were to face death in the coming days that they would do so as husband and wife.

All those citizens who had not fled Resh Fali for the south came out to celebrate. Every soldier who was not on duty served as an honor guard as the participants of the wedding marched through the streets, waving and encouraging the crowd to cheer and be happy. To forget for a moment that this wedding was in haste, one last moment of happiness before the twilight that was descending upon them from the north.

That this might be their last moment of happiness.

The ceremony was jubilant.

Or so Adan Pocef heard through the grape vine. He had traded with someone to scout the roads leading to the northern expanse, beyond the demarcation where the jungle stopped and the wastes began. While his daughter was being married, he was fighting to keep her safe.

The irony that she was one of the peach blossoms, one of the most powerful forces in the world, was not lost on him.

He had never been a strong or important man. He had been content to have a happy life with a wife and a child or two. But then the weeping sickness had swept through Mer’cah, nearly claiming his daughter and claiming his wife.

Yara did not clearly remember those days in the aftermath, when he had been a broken man. He had picked up the pieces and put them back together with mud made from spit and sweat. And he had fought so hard to keep his daughter alive and healthy and … he smiled sadly.

Hien Ro was a good man. He was glad that she’d found happiness in someone better than he could ever be.

The ambush came out of nowhere.

His squad barely managed to return to Resh Fali in time to warn the defenders of the advanced forces that were attempting to circle around and entrench to the southeast of the fortress city.

~~~~~~

Ko Ren shuddered as he felt the man who had once tried to heal him of the very strength which now coursed through his veins finished inscribing the latest of the runes that the demon had bestowed upon him. He flexed his power through the new tattoo, feeling as the power slid into place.

It was frustrating, but he hadn’t been able to unlock the secrets of using dao avatars. As he pushed his mind into the new rune, however, he encountered something just as profound.

He forced his will upon one of the golden-ranked corpses, another man who had once questioned the path that Ko Ren had taken the Sovereign Summit Sect down. Now, the iron rod thrust through the man’s heart served as a conduit, and Ko Ren impressed his will and his mind upon the empty vessel.

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He grinned in two places at once. It worked. While the empty vessel that was serving as the extension of his will was weaker than his primary body, and likely weaker than a true avatar would be, the ability to command from the front without exposing himself to the cursed purifying abilities of ‘the peach blossoms’ would be a great boon to him.

With an effort of will, he forced the final stage of the march to begin. The ghouls, the abominations, and the fractured horde of monstrosities charged through the wastes.

The city of Resh Fali stood just beyond the isthmus joining south and north. Its forces were arranged and dug in. Entrenched, they would not give up their position easily.

But they faced the entirety of the risen north. Against half a billion corpses, the defenders would be ground up like meet in a grinder.

Ko Ren grinned, watching the chaos as it unfolded through the eyes of his former friend.

The line of charging undead met the line of defenders.

And the final battle began.

~~~~~

“It is almost time,” I said.

“What is that, master?” Toorah asked, opening his eyes.

“Continue cultivating,” I said. “I might leave you soon. Don’t be afraid, even should you see visions or feel danger. Stay near the formation and you will be protected. And continue to cultivate. You have great potential, Toorah. More than you realize right now.”

“Will I walk the bronze path some day?” the boy asked.

“If you follow my lessons, then perhaps you will walk the gold,” I answered. Then I ruffled his hair. “Now shut up and cultivate.”

“Yes Master.”

~~~~~~~

“It’s a girl!” I said, wrapping the baby as the mother collapsed from the efforts of childbirth.

We were alone. Her child had come early while she had been journeying home from the city. An ambitious task during a storm, in the middle of the night, and considering the distance. But I had used my powers to erect a shelter and done the necessary tasks that she could not do for herself while she had done the things which all mothers did in these times.

Now, I wrapped the girl in my own robe, which I had cut and torn for swaddling, before passing the child to her mother. The girl cried softly, but calmed after a moment.

“Will you name her for me?” the mother asked.

“I name her Hope,” I said. “I am sorry, but I must leave you now. I have already stayed to long.”

“Thank you, Little Bug. If you hadn’t—”

I never heard her parting words, as I released this avatar which had been chasing a thread for too long.

But I had caught it in the end. If I hadn’t been there, then hope would have died to the elements during the storm that raged outside the shelter. Now things would be different.

Hope would change the world.

~~~~~

I had spread myself thin. So thin, so many threads in so many places.

It was a tapestry which only I could see. A tapestry of humanity.

Each stitch and weave in its proper place, each life saved, each lesson given, each act of providence or gift of foresight had a purpose.

A thousand thousand paths I had walked.

But the convergence was coming.

I began to pull myself together, abandoning each avatar that had served its purpose.

As I pulled, the stitching of the tapestry suddenly took on a new shape.

And a picture began to form.

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