"You know what you're supposed to do, then?" Kenji spoke to the form in front of him. It was a shadow that looked like a young boy, kowtowing in front of the kami.

Kenji stood dressed in his usual garb, looking around from behind his blindfold. The kami stood there now in front of his broken-down manor. He wore threadbare black slacks that were probably once nice and a long black coat. His tattoos bubbled away a bit more violently than usual. His hair was long, black, and straight.

The manor was quite sizable, but he didn't get the nickname 'Beggar King of Shadows' for keeping things up to par. He was hardly ever here, anyway. He was constantly working in the mortal realm. Just because his siblings could ignore their jobs didn't mean he could. This was one thing he had to do in his realm: give this waylaid boy a mission to do.

"I do, master. Thank you for the opportunity," the boy spoke earnestly. His voice sounded like an echo, something to do with the shadows. This was how they always sounded. He never lifted his head from the dirt. He didn't dare.

"Get up. Look at me," Kenji commanded. The usual tiredness in his voice was also gone for the time being. He watched the formless boy's hand while resting on the hilt of his sword. The sword was forged like a katana, but it was much longer than average. The sword was so long; you didn’t think he could possibly wield it in battle.

The boy paused for a moment but, scared of disobeying, eventually stood. However, he couldn't bring himself to look straight at the master. Kenji gave a small smile. “Look at me. You are going to receive a gift. Something I'm not even sure if I am supposed to do, but we must fix this mess my dear sister has created. Now, you're going to get some measure of power over the shadows, but only the shadow of the target I give you.” Kenji trailed off. He had already explained the assignment to the boy. He would not do so again. His vocal cords were already hurting.

The boy looked at him now, finally, timidly, and nodded, "Yes, master." Kenji poked him in the chest, and the boy seemed to explode in shadow.

"I am not your master, and you better not fail me," Kenji spoke, his tired, cracking voice returning.

__________________

Silas woke to a soft knock at the door. Opening his eyes, it took him a moment to see who was entering, and he raised to sit up quickly. Master Eichi himself brought in a tray with some eggs, a hunk of bread, some cheese, and berries, as well as some fried up salted pork. Silas stuttered, "Master Eichi, thank you, you didn't have to.…" Eichi cut him off. "No, of course, I didn't have to, but I was coming anyway." He looked at Silas and smiled. Behind Eichi were his two students, one carrying Silas's traditional robes. He put the robes on the bed next to Silas and then exited to another section of their area to work. Silas realized they had said nothing since he had been there, and he didn't even know their names.

"So, how did you rest?" Eichi asked as he moved over to the cauldron. It had been bubbling away all night in the room's corner. "Probably not too well, hm? This stuff stinks, ugh." He shook his head but lifted the cauldron from the fire and put it on his workbench to finish working on the pills. "Eat your breakfast and get dressed. I spoke with Kora this morning. She has your hammer kept up in the guard tower. She will wait for you to send you off," Eichi continued, never pausing.

Silas let the old man speak while he ate breakfast and nodded while listening to him. "I appreciate it, master. Thank you," he replied when Master Eichi stopped talking long enough for Silas to respond.

"I have news as well. First Elder is usually unavailable, but he came out of his secluded cultivation because he sensed what happened to Kyoto. He is sorry to say that he didn't pick up on what he was feeling sooner and that he wished he could have helped." Eichi never misses a beat and keeps speaking, ignoring Silas's thanks.

This, however, got Silas to stand. "He knew what happened?!" He shouted now at the old healer. He was working on something when he looked up at Silas. "After the fact, yes. My Elder couldn't have helped you." Eichi put up a palm to calm Silas. "He has some information, though, for you. Apparently, you forgot to tell me that one of the old oracles came to your village and gave a warning. Well, the First Elder also knew, and he said that the crone you saw in your village is now in Zhangshu."

Silas groaned, closing his eyes. "That's in Pyanza, in the north." "I'm sure you do not want to return." Eichi nodded his head. "However, the oracle is there that first gave you the warning. If you can find her, she may have gotten more info and can tell you. The First Elder, unfortunately, was not sure what the cause of the attack was. He had no insight on that, but he urges, if you wish to figure it out, to head north."

Eichi added some more things to the cauldron and then stirred the pot with a metallic spoon. Silas stayed quiet during this part, watching the master do his work. He could feel the power coming from the master healer as the old man poured his will into the concoction.

Eventually, slowly, Master Eichi opened his eyes and looked down into the cauldron. Now he took the spoon and another device set flat on the table and opened up. When Silas looked, he saw it was a metallic mold with five different spots that would form the pills. Pouring the liquid into each of the molds, Eichi then closed the press.

"It'll only take a moment for the pills to cure, and then hopefully, you should find a bit of solace with what's going on inside your channels," Eichi told Silas.

Silas slumped back down, sitting on the bed. "If she is there, then yes. I must go." "Hm," was all that Eichi had to say in response. It surprised Silas that Master Eichi said nothing else.

A few minutes later, once Silas had finished his breakfast and set the tray outside the door like the night before, he got dressed in his usual robes. Them being clean was a treat after the last couple of days.

Master Eichi opened the mold and showed the results of his work. The pills were a deep red and had a soft glow about them. Eichi peeled the pills from the mold and handed them to Silas. "Take one now and try to cultivate it slowly. Let the effects slowly move through your channels, and with some luck, you'll straighten yourself out. I would only push each pill for up to four days to spread through your system. You'll have to really work on slowing things down," Eichi instructed him.

Silas inspected the pill. The insides were flowing, and the finished product smelled much better than the ooze bubbling away in the room where he slept. It smelled a little like roses. After a moment, Silas got a whiff of the sulfuric-ness he had smelled all night. Finally, he dropped it into his mouth and swallowed the pill, letting the capsule dissolve in his system. He couldn't feel anything right away, but Master Eichi had told him it would take a while to see the effects. Honestly, anything would help at this point. He put the rest of the pills into a pocket in his robe.

"I can get you into a caravan heading north. Then you can find the oracle and see if she can give more information on what happened in your village." Master Eichi gave him an assuring nod and put a hand on Silas's shoulder.

Silas looked up at him and nodded, then climbed to his feet from the makeshift bed he had slept in the night before. He stretched out a little and popped his neck. "Don't worry about anything. Head to the front gate and speak with Kora and get your hammer back. I will bring you news of where to go for your caravan, and then you can head north. Is there anything else you need? I will get you a pack of supplies and have them for you before you leave." Eichi nodded at Silas as he spoke and wandered off to a door in a different corner of the room.

Silas took his dismissal and grunted. He was not looking forward to returning north. He had too much past there. Even then, sometimes, the distance between his hometown and he did not seem to be enough. Still, he had to do this to find out what happened to his village and Himari. He walked back through the school, bobbing his head to the students, who stopped to bow at him.

Once at the front gate, Kora stood there waiting for him, looking somber. "Come, Silas, the caravan was supposed to leave by now, but they've been having issues, and now they are waiting for our wagon to join them. We got some things to trade and are giving you a ride. You're just going to have to try to provide protection," she explained.

Silas stared at Kora and even guffawed a little. "I can barely lift my hammer, let alone swing it against anyone or protect a whole caravan." "I know, but your experience and knowledge of cultivation will help some of the younger guards. I'm sure you'd be surprised what someone like you can do against caravan thieves." Kora just gave him a small laugh and closed the gap, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Then one of her apprentices walked up, dragging Silas's hammer behind him along with the small traveling pouch Silas had. "Here you are, Master Silas, your weapon and pouch full of supplies from the kitchen."

The young man was about thirteen years old, about the same age as Reiko. This young cultivator was further along his path than Reiko, but that was because Silas purposely had him go slow. Still, no matter how advanced this young boy was, he struggled to drag the hammer behind him. It was comically large compared to the boy. Silas stepped over, "let me help you. Thank you for bringing me this. I've felt naked without it." Silas reached and grabbed the hammer from him and nodded his appreciation. With the hammer in his hands, he took a moment and cycled some strength to his limbs, then hefted the hammer to rest it on his shoulder. He did notice cycling was a little easier, but it still strained him.

The boy now handed over the pouch, which Silas put over his shoulder and patted before looking back at Kora. "You don't know where Kio is, do you? I think I was told she was on a mission somewhere." Kora walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder, leading him to and through the gate, where a large wagon was waiting for him. Two horses drew it and had an older man sitting on the bench to drive it. He was grizzled and had long, unkempt gray hair and a beard. The driver said nothing to hurry them along or anything. He just sat there smoking on a pipe while he waited for the go-ahead.

"Your other woman?" Kora smirked and gave a soft laugh. "I believe she's actually in the north somewhere. You may run into her."

Silas bristled. It was common gossip that he and Kio had something going. He had found out the talk continued after he left the school to be with his wife. None of it was true, of course. Kio was simply a good friend from his days as a school student.

"Oh, calm down, Silas. I'm only kidding." Kora teased as she grinned and patted his shoulder softly. She handed him a sealed scroll with the school's symbol, a simple mountain pressed into forest-green wax. “This will give you passage with the caravan. Your position is to keep the wagon safe and help with security along the whole caravan if needed, but you should be fine. The caravan is only heading to the border of Pyanza and then to the capital, Zhangshu. From there, you can depart the cavern and find your own way.”

Silas stared at her and listened to the instruction she gave him, nodding gently and putting the seal in his pack. “Absolutely, Kora, thank you. Thank Master Eichi for me as well. I thought he was going to be here?” Kora shrugged. "You know how he is. He probably found a nice-looking flower and got sidetracked. I will pass your thanks. Now go, the caravan is already running late, and they're waiting for us." he gave him a soft push towards the wagon.

Silas approached the wagon, looking at the closed door. He breathed in deeply and was ready to begin this new chapter of his life. He only hoped and prayed he would close this chapter and reopen the chapters with his wife. The driver looked down at him and spoke. "The name is Ezra. Welcome to have you aboard. I'll be glad to have you if we get into a scrape. The other guy in there is pretty young. I don't know if he'll do much good." Silas looked up at him and smiled a bit. "The name is Silas, and I'm sure we'll be just fine." He didn't give away the question, what other person? Kora didn't tell him there'd be someone else joining along. He cocked an eyebrow, looked back at the wagon door, and opened it.

Inside was indeed a young man in deep red cultivation robes with black inner robes. He was a pale man with short, spiky white hair on the top of his head. He stared at Silas when he opened the door and grinned widely, staring at him with bright green eyes. "Master Silas, are ya? Welcome aboard." The man had a unique accent, almost like the little leprechauns you heard about in the stories from the Western Islands. Silas took a moment and tried not to show the strain on his face, activating the storage ring on his finger and sending his hammer into it. He'd have to be careful about doing these sorts of things.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

He climbed into the wagon. The inside was much nicer than the outside, with plush forest-green leather padding on the seats, and an engraving of the school's crest on either side behind the benches. There was also what Silas recognized as a protection script along the ceiling.

"The name is William, and yeah, if it wasn't obvious, I'm not really from around here, probably why that old sod driver isn't a fan of mine. Many people around here don't really like us Westerners." William reached out to Silas with his hand while he spoke. The wagon started moving, bouncing along the dirt trails in the mountainside.

Silas shook William’s hand. "Yes, just call me Silas. I'm not a master of the school anymore, and from what I can tell, you're just as powerful as I am. I'm confused, though. Master Kora didn't tell me anyone else was coming along?"

"Aye, yeah, well… you and I have a mutual friend who arranged for me to go. I'm not a member of the school or anything. Kio convinced the school I was useful for things and was in the area. Master Kora suggested I go along just in case, you know, you needed backup," William explained the situation to Silas easily, and Silas bobbed his head, listening.

"So, you know what happened?" Silas asked him, unsure. This probably irked him the most about the current situation. Silas wanted this problem to be kept a secret. It usually wasn't too clever an idea for other cultivators to know that someone couldn't operate at their full power.

"Aye, I do, but don't let it worry your pretty bald head. I told you, Kio is a good friend of mine as well. That girl is all over and knows just about everyone that's worth knowing. No worries, Silas. We're going to have a lovely, brief journey to Zhangshu. There you can meet up with your old man or whatever else you're trying to do." William now and closed his eyes. He leaned back on the bench to relax.

Silas sat there with his mouth gaped open in shock. How did he know anything about Silas or about his father? Did William know more than he was saying? Silas supposed he’d have plenty of time to get information from the man. For now, Silas also closed his eyes and tried to get more rest. He also tried to work on cycling that pill Master Eichi gave him.

The initial trip didn't last long, but William woke Silas, patting him on his shoulder. "Come on, mate. We're in Queping. The caravan master wants to meet everyone coming along before we head out. I also assume we're in for a bit of a reprimand since we're so late." William snickered at saying that. As if he thought getting yelled at by someone as plain as a caravan organizer was amusing.

Silas blinked his eyes, trying to wake up and nodded his head. The pill has helped a little more, but Eichi told Silas it would take a while, and it had only been a few hours. Silas climbed out of the cottage, followed by William, where Ezra was already waiting for them on the ground with his arms folded.

"The Caravan master's name is Noah, but don't call him that. The man has a stick up his ass about calling him Sir since he's the master." Ezra raised his hands and motioned two fingers on either hand mockingly. "As if he does anything besides get us all together at the same time and pay off border guards to make sure we get in the area. As owners and shopkeepers, we are the ones who do anything." Ezra continued grumbling, shaking his head.

Soon, a plump man approached them and spoke in a high-pitched voice. He almost sounded like he was whining when he talked to the trio. "Well, well, sorry to get you three out of bed to come along. Ye old great cultivators from the such-and-such blah blah. Now, please tell me who's who, and don't bother looking at me all angrily because I insulted your precious school. I don't care, I'm not from here, and you will do nothing to me but answer my questions and move along."

Silas stared at the man in shock. It was pretty clear he wasn't a cultivator and thought little of the people who were. "I am Silas Zhao, Sacred Artist, and I'm here to protect you," he reminded him.

Ezra looked at Silas and smirked before looking at the fat man. "You know who I am. Quit trying to peacock for us. The other one is William, and he's another cultivator. Now, if we're so far behind, how about we mount up and move on? Make some tracks before nightfall."

Noah stared at the three of them, "well, with two such esteemed cultivators watching your wagon, you must be fine riding in the rear."

The man didn't wait for a response. Noah turned away from the group and looked at the caravan's other wagons. There were about a dozen that Silas could see. "LET'S MOUNT UP AND ROLL" Noah yelled as he walked away from the three, heading to his wagon, which was third from the lead.

Ezra shook his head and climbed back up to his spot on the wagon while Silas and William climbed inside it. "Ya know, you two may be mighty cozy in there, but eventually, you'll have to come out and do some guard work or something. Not for a while, most likely, so get the rest while you can. Once we get away out of the city, though, that's when the fun will begin." Ezra called down to the pair as they climbed in.

"You don't worry, old man. We'll be able to sleep and protect you from the likes of the people who rob caravans, I'm sure." William called back before Silas shut the door.

It only took a few minutes before the wagon was lumbering off again. Silas and William bounced around in the carriage. It was mostly an uneventful trip, Silas and William making small talk for a few hours until they felt the carriage slow and stop. The two in the wagon heard Ezra knocking on wood, "you two should get out of here."

They climbed out and looked at Ezra from each side of the wagon. "What's wrong?" Silas asked the man.

"One wagon broke a wheel. Could be nothing, could be something. Either way, it'll put people's minds at ease if they have a couple of fighters out here just in case this is the spot some bandits try to come." Ezra pointed to a wagon up ahead and then grinned a little. "I'm not sure, but I think it may be Noah's wagon," he snickered a bit.

Silas looked at William, who looked back. "You stay here, and I'll go look up ahead. You'll be better off guarding the wagon if something happens since we're in the back."

William nodded and put his hands in the pockets of his robes. He wasn't worried about an attack. William didn’t seem to worry about much of anything, from what Silas could tell. Whether it was cockiness, William was more powerful than Silas had initially thought, or William just thought there was nothing to fear, Silas wasn't sure. Either way, Silas wished he could be that relaxed. He worked up everything that was going on. Silas just couldn't afford it anymore.

Silas made his way up to the front of the caravan, assuring the other traders that everything was fine and that they shouldn't worry. Silas closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated on sending some madra to his ring, activating it and pulling the hammer from it. Shifting it to his shoulder, he grimaced and let it rest there. He couldn't show that he was weaker than everyone knew him to be. He was supposed to be a strong cultivator here to protect them. They couldn't see him too weak to pick up his hammer and had to drag it behind him.

Silas had almost reached the wagon that was having issues when a man rode up to him on a horse. "What do you think you're doing? Get back to your wagon," he commanded.

The man looked down at Silas with a scowl on his face. The man had a pretty forgettable face, but his hair was closely trimmed, and Silas could instantly tell the man was military. Clean shave, the close cut hair, the uniform the man wore with such precision in his dress.

Silas groaned a little. Silas had never got along with members of the military. Military people always gave the impression they didn’t like Sacred Artists. They could defeat their enemies without using the magic that cultivators had to use.

"I'm a hired protector. I'm just looking at the situation, checking to see if I could be of any help," Silas told him, lifting a palm to help calm the man.

"I know who you are. The safety of the caravan is under my purview, not yours. Keep to your own wagon," the man snapped back to him.

Silas looked back at the wagon with the problems, seeing that it was indeed Noah's wagon. Silas looked down and smirked, then looked back. He saw a few more men on horses riding towards them, more of the guards. They wore black gis, rugged leather vests around the chest, and black helmets. They were helping him replace the wheel on the wagon.

Silas then looked around the area. They were in the deserts already. He looked up at the guard. "Are we in the wastelands already?"

"Hm, don't even know where we are, and you want to protect us? Go back to your wagon and go back to sleep or whatever else it is you've been doing this entire time, master Sacred Artist." The guard sneered at the last couple of words and then rode off, leaving Silas looking around.

They were at the desert's beginning, and the forest's lush vibrancy was long behind them. Silas looked around a little more. It wasn't a big deal if they were in the desert wastelands, but it was a hard road for caravans with the robbers. Silas walked back to his wagon, where William was still standing, relaxed, even leaning against the wagon with his back. Ezra was still up in his seat, picking his nails with a small knife.

"Well, you were right. It was Noah's personal wagon. Also, the guard is an asshole." Silas looked up at Ezra and finally lowered his hammer to the ground as he spoke.

Ezra laughed in response and nodded, his head still picking at his fingernails. "That's Robert. He's from the northwest somewhere or something. The man is just a hired hand. He doesn't mean much," Ezra explained.

"Also, I have a bad feeling about this. If I'm right, we're almost to the wastelands, which means this all is a trap of some sort. The only good news is that they seemed to hurry to get us moving again." Silas said.

His gaze then went to William. "Are you going to have my back if anything happens?" The unspoken thing was that Silas would need the backup, but he hoped he didn't have to spell it out for William.

"Aye, yes, of course, I do, but I think we're fine. I've scanned around and felt nothing to be concerned with," William responded.

Of course, that was when everything went wrong. Of course it was. Why wouldn't it? Silas was hoping for a nice, simple ride north. The sky went black, darker than night. Silas groaned. He couldn’t make out anything in the sky above them, or around them.

"Ready the torches!" he heard voices give commands up and down the caravan. Silas dug his feet into the dirt a little and, with a groan, hefted his hammer back into the ready position with both hands.

"Felt nothing, huh?" Silas called over to William, who was now getting ready himself. He had long curved daggers. They were so long you could almost call them short swords.

"Yeah, well, I can't feel them if they've veiled themselves now, can I?" William responded sheepishly.

Then they saw them. It looked like an entire army in the distance. All of them were on horseback, charging the caravan. Silas narrowed his eyes. These didn't look like the sort of bandits to raid a simple trading caravan. This looked like a respectable army.

"We aren't at a border yet, are we?" William asked Ezra and Silas.

"Nah, we can't be. We haven't been far enough. We're right on the edge of the wasteland, like Silas said." Ezra answered quickly since he was the most familiar with the area. All Ezra did was travel the continent in these caravans.

That's when the guard, Robert, rode up to Silas and William. "Can I count on you two to help guard?!" He asked, sounding afraid now. The angry man from before was lost in the moment of impending battle.

"No, I figure we'll stand here and let ourselves get slaughtered." William shot back at Robert. Silas looked up at the man on the horse, gritted his teeth, and nodded his head.

"Let's shed some light all on this darkness, eh friend?" William called out and worked his madra. Even in Silas's weakened state, he could feel the workings of power from the man. A small ring of fire formed around the caravan, and the flames grew. "The horses will have to leap if they want to get at us."