By this point Lu had experienced a handful of different types of flight. The wild joy of taking off into the sky on a speeder; the more subdued yet tense experience of hanging from a giant kite.

…The various times he had been thrown around by impacts and shockwaves, if one were to allow a slightly more poetic form of the word flight.

But being carried by the floating Tai Sho did not resemble any of those. Perched on his back, it was almost leisurely; any wind or dust was blocked by his damaged-but-solid faceplate, allowing him to gaze down at the ground without environmental irritations. The landscape rolled by, a monotonous riot of colour interspersed by crowds of black dots.

It all highlighted the fact that they were not travelling particularly fast, as far as movement arts were concerned – his own Desert Crossing Fist would have been faster, even – but up in the sky, concealed by overlapping illusions and anti-divination spells, they were virtually unstoppable.

Lu, Lu, why would you even think that? Don’t tempt fate! A shiver passed down his spine, a small part of him tensing up…

But nothing happened. It was just an idle thought, nothing more. No need to be paranoid! With a small exhale of relief, Lu went back to immersing himself in Tai Sho’s divinations.

They were both harder and easier to understand, up in the empty air. The qi, what little he could sense, didn’t seem to be directing them in any coherent fashion – it arced out from his senior’s chest, into and through the blood in his hand, then branched out to perform a series of loops that coalesced back into a single stream before diving back where it had come from, sinking into Tai Sho’s dantian.

It was frustratingly opaque; even his rapidly-growing Comprehension could do little more than shrug its shoulders at what was happening on a spiritual level. The qi goes out, imprints on information in the blood, then… what? It isn’t following a trail, just making a few turns and coming back. Whatever spells Tai Sho was using, they were beyond his current understanding.

…But it isn’t like there’s much else to do, either. Having already vented his waste ki and taken stock of his remaining supplies, there wasn’t anything to do but wait as Tai Sho flew them across the sky, closer to the clouds than the earth below.

Alright, alright. Whatever he’s using isn’t anything like Eagle Eye, but let’s pretend it is, for the sake of having somewhere to start. These forms are used to gather information, and then these transmit it back to the caster. The enchantments on my helmet have some higher realm variants, and given the effects we can assume…

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Hours passed. While most of his time was spent silently contemplating divination and aligning forms in his head, every few minutes Lu would turn his attention down to the ground and actually cast a sense-enhancing divination, taking note of what was happening below.

It wasn’t pretty; while the Sun seemed to have retreated some way’s away while they had been underground, there was still a harsh glare coming from every direction, reflected all about by the hanging clouds and reflective sand. The desert wasn’t a half-molten slurry like it had been at the impact point, but there was still a visible heat haze distorting everything, and Lu could feel the energy of the Rotting Sun suffusing the entire atmosphere – watered down by dozens of other ki types, but undoubtedly present.

And some of those other energies weren’t much better. There was a forceful, heavy presence coming from somewhere to the east, like a hurricane lurking just past the horizon, pushing massive amounts of air around just by existing. And the streams of dots, crawling ant-like along the sand, were also exerting pressure on everything; groups of Salt warriors, pushing themselves forward, equalling the towering forces around them with sheer bulk of numbers. There were masses of them spread out below his feet, a number too large for him to even make a vague guess on, and all of them were marching west.

Right towards Horrible Swamp. The same direction the Sun seemed to have gone, and the same direction that heavy presence was making its way towards.

I… get the distinct feeling that our breach won’t stay open for much longer. No, if anything too dangerous approached, the sect would obviously cut the connection from their end. If he hadn’t still had his own treasure concealed in his gauntlet, he would be panicking rather hard by now. No chance we’d be able to leave through the existing breech – it’ll be a warzone by the time we pick up Bull. Even if the walking-stick could handle a second use – not guaranteed, and I’d rather not make assumptions with such a volatile method of travel – just breaching through on my own is the superior option.

I still have enough ki for that, at least.

The next hour passed with increasing discomfort. Though Tai Sho was flying at speeds exceeding a racing horse, it seemed almost glacial in comparison to how fast the world was changing around them. Those small, ant-like masses were matching, or sometimes even outpacing them. And that wasn’t even mentioning the larger forces, which were pressing down harder and harder with each passing moment.

The feeling was familiar; it was exactly the same as what Fatty G – Junk Dog the Immense – had felt when he placed himself in his god’s path.

Ignore it, Lu, ignore it! He grit his teeth, his arms clenching each other as they wrapped around Tai Sho’s shoulders. We’ll make it. We’re less than an hour away – we’ll get to Bull, and get out before anything happens. There’s absolutely no reason to be worried!

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Reality took its cue, and a moment later, almost unnoticed, they passed a tree growing to their right, its boughs hanging a few metres above their heads.

Lu turned to follow it, incredulous. That… “Tai Sho, did you see..?”

“I noticed.” His voice was clipped, frustrated. “I’m using an anti-illusion spell on you, don’t resist.”

Lu opened his mouth, but before he could say anything something appeared under his skull with a feeling like a deadbolt being slid into place. The sensation wasn’t pleasant, but he decided to allow whatever art it was to do as it would; if Tai Sho wanted him dead, it would be as easy as shedding a cloak.

The trees – more had appeared the moment his attention wavered – seemed to shimmer in place, but failed to disappear. Even worse, they seemed to have lost altitude at some point; the ground was now much nearer than the roiling clouds up above.

“Damn it,” Tai Sho swore under his breath, “I’m not getting trapped a second time.”

Second time..? Suddenly their surroundings were blurry and indistinct, an image of a gradually thickening wood fading wildly in and out. Lu wasn’t sure if they were even still flying forward or not; all he could do was cling to the core disciple’s back and pray.

A path through the woods, why does this seem so… As if his memories had conjured reality, he and Tai Sho flew out from the tunnel through the trees, into a forest meadow. The grass was short, only barely managing to brush against their hanging toes, yellow and sickly. And on the other side of the clearing, a heaving black-clad shape.

“Witch,” spat Tai Sho, his voice more venomous than Lu had ever heard.

He added his own voice, more confused than anything. “Granny..? Is that you?”

The shape stilled, and for a moment Lu had no idea what he was looking at. There were, certainly, similarities to the Granny Poison he knew; the texture of its surface was like tattered old cloth, worn by time, with something that suggested limbs coming off from five points.

But there was nothing remotely humanoid about it. It unfurled from itself, and all Lu could compare it to would be some sort of invertebrate; a wormy thing, like a leech or hagfish.

Then it spoke, and its voice was the exact same low, raspy tone he remembered. “Children. Foolish, foolish children.”

Lu hung lower, allowing his foot to brush the ground. For all that the clearing was swaying like a mirage, all his physical and spiritual senses seemed to think there was something solid under him. Let’s, ah, not test that. Apologies senior, but I’ll be riding your back for a bit longer. He pulled himself back up.

“What do you want?” Tai Sho’s words were more even now, but there was still some amount of anger underneath. “Don’t think you can intimidate me again – your power is obviously stretched thin.”

Granny – it seemed safe to assume this was her true form, or some such – uncoiled some, rising up. It was mildly confusing to look at; Lu wasn’t sure if it was the protective spell wrapped around his mind or some property of her real body, but his eyes were having trouble discerning what shape she was taking. And the black-on-black colouration isn’t helping.

“Just a favour, dear. A small favour for Granny, and I’ll let you on your way.” Small points of dirty white shone out, speckled amongst the black, and Lu realized he was looking at a circular maw visible only because of its teeth.

Then, the smell hit him. It was horrible, alive and changing in a way the Sun’s pus was not, though they were both a miasma of rot. It was more like the fetid mud of Knifefish Bog, if one were to concentrate it a thousand times over.

Lu gagged, his grip loosening, and in a moment of dreamlike horror he realised his suit was missing. “Where..?”

An arm came up to stabilise him. Tai Sho’s eyes were watering, but that was the only thing he conceded to the awful stench. Where did my armour go? Is this even happening? Belatedly he noticed that his companion’s suit was also gone. I can’t- there isn’t any ki forcing its way into my dantian. But the ki is still there, so…

All of his senses were agreeing with each other, despite the wild impossibility of it: the clearing was neither an illusion, nor was it real. It was an incomprehensible mix of both, a real, tangible space forced into existence with ki alone.

As Lu reeled, Tai Sho floated, firm. “I refuse. Leave, or I’ll break this illusion, and you with it.”

Granny swayed. Each breath pushed out more of the rotting stink, and it was all Lu could do to keep his gorge from rising as she spoke. “Don’t.” Her tone was hard, like she was speaking to a naughty child. “Even if you succeed, you'll regret not hearing my offer.”

Lu could feel qi unspooling from Tai Sho’s dantian. The spell in his mind became even more solid, a fortress gate rather than a mere locked door – but still, the image of a forest clearing persisted.

“Don’t.” This time, Granny’s word sent a ripple through the not-quite-an-illusion. The wavering trees stood straight, any mirage-like quality lost as the space became solid. Lu’s feet touched the ground, followed shortly by the rest of him as Tai Sho’s flight cut out and he stumbled. “I have a task for you. One little thing, one little thing, and it’s something you’ll want to do anyway.”

Tai Sho opened his mouth, his face defiant, but Granny cut him off with a slash of a limb. “Not you. Not you – Lu. This is a task for you, dearie.”

It’s like someone shoved rotten fish up my nostrils… He stood, brushing threads of dead grass from his knees. “Apologies, Granny, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. Let’s just speak plainly, alright?”

The black thing wobbled, and for a moment it almost looked like a small woman sitting on the dying ground – but then the image was gone, and there was only the wormy thing. “When you get to him, there will be two others-“ a cough, wet, red-tinged black fluid spattering the yellow grass, “You’ll know them. Bring them with you.”

A moment of silence. “Is that it, Granny?”

Something that might have been a nod. “That’s it. Those two… I’ve put too much into keeping them alive and strong for it to end now. Too much…”

For a moment, Lu’s eyes softened. The smell… that isn’t natural. “You’re dying, aren’t you?” The only reply was a laboured breath, and the smell of death. “The Sun?”

Something too wet to be called a cackle, more fluid coating the ground in a small arc. “No, no. Not that horrid thing.” Again, the image of an old woman flashed, just for a moment. “I thought the old bones would be content to sit and wait, like always… No matter, no matter.” Her head rose. “Maybe I will die, or maybe not. But I still have enough power to keep you here, until it’s too late. Do we have an agreement?”

Neither of us kept up our end of things last time. A bad precedent, but… “It’s not as though I have a choice. Besides, if it’s someone I know, then I’d save them anyway.”

All at once, without even a moment of transition, Lu was suddenly being carried again. His arms wrapped around Tai Sho’s shoulders, both of their armours gleaming in the intense light.

But that smell, that living, churning rotten smell, was still clogging his nostrils, saturating his clothes and skin.

He shivered, just once, before comporting himself. Tai Sho was already flying forward at top speed.

They exchanged a look, without speaking, and then focused their attentions forward.