I refuse sir. I don’t care that you’re a Gold and that you can flatten my town, the nearby forest, and probably the local mountain to boot. The ocean doesn’t screw around and any storm that big is powered by Qi and perfectly able to kill even you, nevermind my dingy boat. – Fisherman Vran of the Sunrise Cove

* * *

“Zhao Jaili?” Tenri called as he dragged me by the shoulder into the clinic. “Jaili? I have a patient for you!”

“It’s really not that bad,” I protested. “It’s just a few cuts, and I’m a cultivator! I’ll be fine in no time!”

“And if you get an infection? That lighthouse is damp and dirty, and soaked in death qi. Do you really think nothing could grow there?” Tenri huffed his annoyance just as Zhao Jaili came out from the back of the building, followed closely by Hanako.

“What is it?” asked the younger of the two women. However, Hanako took one look at my red bandages and snorted her laughter.

“Master Tsuyuki, have you been at the lighthouse again?”

I didn’t know what the big deal was! I’d been working on the damned mirrors for the better part of a week. It was hard work trying to get the giant sheets of reflective glass in a proper working order. Even now, I had only repaired two of the three mirrors as best I could.

I shook my head. “No! Not today, anyway. But I’m fine! Tenri is just being-”

“Being pig-headed is my job. I’m the town administrator,” he said, shoving me down onto a bed. “Now, let them fix you up.” I rolled my eyes as Hanako and her sister snickered at me. Each one took a hand and began unwrapping the bloody bandages to see the damage I’d done to myself.

“For what it’s worth,” I began as they uncovered the still bleeding cuts on my hands and forearms, “I did finish something reasonably reflective for two of the mirrors. I just need to fix the last one and get some new greater moon tears, and it should be passable until we can get new mirrors from the capital.”

“Master Tsuyuki, Hero of Saikan,” Hanako said between her giggles. “Ascended by gluing glass pieces together. A tale to tell for generations to come.” I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, if he can keep from bleeding to death or dying of an infection,” Tenri muttered. “Honestly, you’re going to be the death of me, Tsuyuki.”

“He’s going to need a few poultices to prevent that,” Jaili murmured. “Brother, would you hold pressure on these cuts while I prepare it?” Tenri nodded and took Jaili’s place at my left, holding fresh bandages to my cuts.

The scolding continued for nearly an hour while Jaili and Hanako rewrapped my hands and forearms in treated bandages. I thought myself skilled at wrapping bandages, but they were true experts. Never before had any injury of mine been so neatly bundled and wrapped. It was brilliant.

As they worked, thunder had rolled in on the coast. Hanako looked forlornly out the window as rain pelted the streets in great sheets of water. The buildings creaked and moaned as the winds battered their roofs and sides.

“I have a bad feeling,” she muttered. She turned to her sister, who was wearing a similarly grim expression.

“It’s just a storm,” Tenri said. “We get lots of storms. The fisher’s guild would have sounded the alarm well before the storm hit. I’m sure everyone made it back safely.”

“MASTER TENRI!” shouted a young man as he threw the door open. He was soaked head-to-toe in rain and had clearly run halfway across town to find us. Immediately, Tenri and I were both on our feet and ready to act.

“What is it?!”

“Master! The guild master requests an audience! It’s an emergency!”

“Stay here, get something warm before you catch cold,” Tenri ordered before sprinting out the door. I was right on his heels, despite the objections from Jaili about my bandages getting wet.

The two of us were soaked through to the bone before we even made it to the end of the street. The winds howled loudly in my ears, and Chiho was forced to seek shelter in the collar of my coat lest it be blown completely away.

The guild at the north edge of the docks and was where every fisherman checked in before and after every day. There, they sold their catch for fair wages, and found companionship and assistance for all their needs. It was normally a cheerful but well-organized place, but now it was in chaos. Men shouted in a cacophonous clamor that rivaled the volume of the storm outside.

“We have to find him!”

“Do you want to go out in this weather? He’s already dead!”

“What the hell was he thinking? Any boat would capsize in a heartbeat on these waters!”

“QUIET!” shouted a burly man built like an ox. The rest of the fishermen settled down and made way for Tenri and I to approach.

“Master Tenri, we have a problem,” said the ox man.

“Explain, guild master. We will do what we can,” he answered. The ox man nodded and sighed.

“When we spied the storm on the horizon, we recalled all the fishing boats, just as you ordered, but one’s missing.” His deep voice was grim and worried, even if his expression didn’t betray it.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Who’s lost?”

“Xi Qian.”

Xi Qian…where had I…

“Isn’t he that kid from the fight the other day?” I wondered. Several heads nodded in the crowd. “Tell me he didn’t actually go out to the north reef?”

“We suspect he did,” answered the ox man. “Otherwise, he would have heard the signal to return.”

“That idiot,” I heard Tenri whisper under his breath. I couldn’t help but echo the sentiment. He’d resisted the challenge for a week, but, in the end, his pride had been hurt too badly. As I’d predicted, it was now my headache that was on the line.

“Master Tenri,” shouted a voice from the crowd. “The storm came in so fast! What if it’s the Tide Serpent?! What if Xi Qian angered it into waking?!” the crowd exploded in another flurry of noise, and the guild master shouted several times to bring the situation back under control.

“I doubt the Tide Serpent has awoken,” Tenri, trying to reassure the crowd. “We’d have heard it’s cries by now if it had. We just need to keep calm heads. I will venture into the storm and try to find Xi Qian.”

I put a hand on his arm, holding him back. “Tenri, you might be a cultivator, but cultivators can still drown. Can you even sail?”

“I know the basics, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll go with you.”

He shook his head. “You can swim less than I can sail. At least I have a chance if I’m thrown overboard.” I didn’t have an answer. He was right. I had no business on a boat if I was just going to be another victim in need of saving.

“I’ll go with you.” Every head in the room turned to see Lang Tailyn push his way through the crowd. “I’ve sailed these waters all my life. I’ll handle the boat. You focus on the rescue.”

Whispers filled the hall; a hundred voices too soft to be heard but echoing the same sentiment. This was suicide for both of them. I wanted to stop them. Tenri was the only thing anchoring me to this reality. If he died…but what could I do? A man’s life was in danger, and he was the best chance of saving it.

“No! Don’t do it!” This new voice was higher and significantly more distressed. Xinya threw herself from the shadows and clung to her dad’s leg before he could reach the door.

“Xinya, when did you get here?” Lang asked softly.

“I followed you because I was worried! Don’t go! It’s too dangerous!” Tears streaked her cheeks. Her father knelt down and cupped her face in his hand.

“I have to, Xinhua,” he whispered. “Somebody is in danger.”

“But why you!?” she shouted. “Why can’t anyone else go!” Suddenly, every fisherman in the hall turned away.

“Xinhua,” he pulled the crying child into his arms, “Xinhua, you remember what your mother used to say? Those who can…”

“Must help those who cannot,” she finished. “But Daddy, you can’t! The waves are too big!”

“Master Tsuyuki,” Lang called. “Would you honor me with a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Keep my Xinhua safe until I return?” he asked. “She will probably try to come after me, and you’re the only one I’m confident she can’t slip past.”

I knelt next to the pair. Lang passed his sobbing daughter to me, and I pulled her close.

“No! Daddy! Don’t go!” she screamed. She beat her hands against my arms, but no mortal child can break free from a cultivator’s grip.

“Thank you.” Lang stood and bowed to me before he and Tenri cracked open the doors and slipped out into the tempest beyond.

Xinya continued to scream. I lifted her off her feet and held her close, but she still sobbed enormous tears into my shoulder and hair. None of the fishermen could look either of us in the eye, save for the guild master who did his best by fetching a cup of water for the poor child.

One by one, the minutes ticked by. Every fisherman stood in silent vigil, waiting as the wind howled mercilessly outside. In all that time, I did not put Xinya down for fear she’d weasel herself away if I took my eyes off her for even a second. She cried until her voice was hoarse, and, when she had no more voice left, she sobbed silently into my shoulder. Chiho did its best to cheer her up, but she was inconsolable.

Minutes turned into an hour, then two. Lightning began to crash more frequently, and the crowd began to grow restless.

“How long does it normally take to reach the Serpent’s reef?” I asked.

“Two hours in fair weather,” the guild master answered. “They should just be there.”

“But what’s the point?!” shouted a voice. “The storm is too strong, and you can’t see more than a few feet out there! Even if they find Xi Qian, they’ll never make it back to shore without crashing against the cliffs!”

“Is that true?”

The guild master lowered his head. “The currents drive north this time of year.”

North…straight into the cliffs upon which the lighthouse was perched. Those cliffs were sheer, and the waters below were filled with vicious rocks. If nature drove them that way, and they couldn’t find their way back, it would all be over.

Xinya gripped tightly around my neck. I rested my head on hers and squeezed her tightly. Chiho vibrated, sliding itself into her ponytail.

“They’re going to be okay,” I murmured. “I know they’re alive.”

“How do you know?”

“Tenri and I are core sworn to each other,” I explained. It wasn’t strictly true, but I had no other way of explaining the soul bond without explaining why such a thing was needed in the first place.

“What does that mean?”

“He and I are brothers-in-arms. I’ll know immediately if he is in trouble.” Several eyebrows raised in my direction, but I didn’t need to explain myself to mortals. If they decided to make assumptions, that was on them. My focus was calming the crying child in my arms.

“What if they do get into trouble?” Xinya’s voice was weak. “We’re too far away to help!”

“We have to have faith that they’ll be alright,” I answered.

“Yeah, some faith,” muttered someone in the crowd. “What good is faith against a storm? It’s not like faith will guide them home.” I glared into the crowd. They were not helping, but my hands were too full of a weeping child to find the culprit and silence them myself.

Even if they were right, Xinya needed a little faith to hold onto. I squeezed her as tight as I dared. She was such a fragile little thing. Chiho rummaged through her hair, combing out tangles like a mother bird grooming its chick. Once it was finished, I ran my hands through the groomed sections to help calm her.

I froze, staring at the bandages that still wrapped my hands.

“Mister Tsuyuki?” Xinya asked softly. “What’s wrong? Are they in trouble?”

“No, they’re just fine,” I said without thinking. My mind was elsewhere.

Then it hit me.

“That’s it!” I shouted, lowering Xinya to the ground.

“What is?” asked the guild master. I didn’t bother answering.

“Chiho, you’re in charge,” I said. “Don’t let Xinya out of your sight, and don’t let her do anything dangerous, okay?” The tiny crane chirped and trilled.

“Wait, where are you going?” Xinya called as I let go.

“I had an idea! I’m going to bring them home!”