Chapter 26

Fall fell, and the harvest began. The children worked in the fields through the day and collapsed into their beds at night exhausted despite their cultivation.

It wasn’t that the work was particularly difficult, but there was so much of it, Tan reflected. He knew that they had planted big this spring, with his father having tilled four fields more than usual. He’d even helped plant them. But he hadn’t realized just how much work that would add up to come harvest.

And once the work was done on the Shen farm, the children were sent to help the village bring in their crops.

Once all the work was finally done, the children spent a day of play to recover from a hard week and a half of being serious. Then they began preparing for the journey which was about to take place to claim Safron’s spirit.

Wensho sat the children down and unfurled a large map, showing them the entirety of the world. Or at least the continent that they were on. She showed them where they were, in Miskio province, a small part of the Blue Dragon Empire, one of four great empires upon the continent. Each were thousands of miles across.

The Blue Dragon Empire was the westernmost and northernmost of the four empires. To reach the Ashlands, they would travel to the east, avoiding the Green Monkey epire, then south through a narrow band of the Yellow Phoenix empire and into the Red Tiger Empire, where the Ashlands lay beneath the equator. When they asked how long the journey would take, the woman had hesitated.

“It would take a mortal years to make this journey,” she said eventually. “If they were traveling on foot. About a third of that if they had a horse. It will take you four weeks.”

The children exchanged looks. “Are we that much faster than morals?” Tan asked.

“You are especially, Tan, given that you can fly further in a day than a mortal can travel by foot in a week,” she reminded him. “But no. You won’t be walking or flying. You’ll be riding Qi constructs with my husband, and while he’ll be slowed by your presence compared to if he went alone, you’ll be able to keep up with him.”

And so she presented them each with small carvings, which she had crafted herself. Tan’s was made of glass, Pao’s of wood, Won’s of obsidian, and Ko’s of quartz. They were little horses with intricate writing and magical symbols carved in on them, each figurine small enough to fit in the palm of their hand.

“Take these outside and begin feeding them your Qi,” she instructed. “Continue to feed them throughout the day, and tomorrow as well. On the third day, they should be ready to ride, and then your journey can begin.”

The children obeyed, and they were each surprised at just how readily the little figurines drank in the power that was poured into them.

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“Your mother crafted this herself,” Zephyr whispered in Tan’s ear. “I can feel the afterimage of her Qi, despite her having purged it to prepare it to bond to you.”

Tan grinned. “Of course she did.”

Zephyr was quiet for a moment, then said “I really don’t think you know who your parents really are. I think I don’t know who they really are. I wonder where they came from, or why they’re hiding here.”

“They’re not hiding from anything,” Tan said, a slightly scolding tone to his voice. “They’re strong enough that they don’t need to hide.”

“There are some things that you can’t fight no matter how strong you are or how hard you try, Tan,” the spirit said. “Sometimes the only way to survive is to be where those kinds of things are not.”

“My parents are strong enough to fight anything in the world,” Tan bragged.

“Yes, they are. Especially together. But what if that’s what they’re hiding from, Tan? How exactly would you fight against violence itself?” the spirit asked.

Tan frowned. “You’re talking stupid again,” he scolded the spirit.

“Sorry,” the spirit answered. “I’ll shut up now.”

On the third day, the children finished packing their clothes and were given packs filled with supplies. Tren met them before the cultivation hill, and he smiled at them.

“You know how far we’re going. I will not leave any of you behind if you begin to lag, but try your best not to slow the group down as best you’re able. Each of you is exceptionally powerful for your age and development and I am proud of you, but know that there is no shame in asking for help. If you or your mount begins to feel the strain of the road, let me know and I will bear you on my own mount until you recover,” he said.

Then he quietly said a few words that made no sense to the children, moving his hands in rapid gestures that they couldn’t quite follow, and the four figurines that the children had been feeding their Qi for the last three days, and another that belonged to Tren, abruptly flashed brightly and turned into horses.

They weren’t living horses, however. That was immediately clear. Tan’s smelled like a fresh spring breeze and was transparant, despite having a defined and visible shape. Pao’s smelled like clay and was dusty yellow. Won’s was charcoal black and smelled of hickory smoke. And Ko’s was light blue, with the scent of water lillies.

Tren’s, on the other hand, was green, yellow and brown, and it smelled like a ripe field of clover.

The children mounted the constructs, each one being just the right size for their child. They nervously sat on the construct for a moment, getting used to the feel, before Tren abruptly took off. The children called out in surprise and instinctually kicked their own mounts into a gallop to follow.

They crossed the horizon in a moment, and the next horizon a moment later. Mile after mile, league after league, they passed over the earth without stopping or slowing, moving at a speed that mortals could barely dream of.

Wensho and Safron watched them go. Wensho smiled sadly, while Safron pouted, her nose crinkling angrily. “When do I get a magic horsey?” she demanded.

“When you’re old enough to ride one,” Wensho promised.

“I want one now,” the little girl objected.

“You need to be strong before you can ride one. You haven’t even started on your path yet, my dear. Don’t be in such a rush to grow up, it’s not as much fun as you think it is.”