Beasts are perhaps the single greatest danger mortals face in their lives. Cultivators are vain and sometimes sadistic tyrants…but ultimately they are outnumbered far too heavily to allow them the time to terrorize the populace. Not so for the beasts of the wilds. For every cultivator in the ranks of the civilized, there are thousands to millions of mindless, murderous beasts in the wilds actively pushing against our borders. So, all cultivators learn to fight them. Whether they fight for the rewards that protecting mortals can bring or for the materials of the beasts themselves, the result is the same: the powerful must protect the weak. -Merchant Dai Tang of the Silver Dragon Trade Association

* * *

The Tide Serpent…

A hundred years ago, it had been a plague upon the villages of the Moon-Soaked Shore. The seas swelled, homes were destroyed, and the landscape was carved anew. In that time, no cultivators in the shore stood a chance at stopping its rampages. Sects were petitioned, only for the representatives they sent to be destroyed along with whole towns. The only solution was to make offerings to the beast in the hopes that it was appeased enough to leave the mortal villages alone. Even with the offerings, the entire southern shore lived in fear of the monster rising.

One day, a fisherman from Saikan went to sea and ended up dangerously close to the monster’s territory. Fearing for his life, his cultivator wife took up her sword and followed him to sea. As she’d feared, the Tide Serpent rose and tried to eat the fisherman’s boat. The cultivator stopped it, giving her life so that her husband could return home. She beat the Tide Serpent, sending it into a deep slumber. It was never seen again…

That cultivator was Xinya’s mother. When we heard Taihua utter the vile dread serpent’s name, a chill went down everyone’s spine. Of those gathered; Lin, Pollen, and Pharyx had all been alive to see the terror of the Tide Serpent. It was the monster that haunted their childhoods. And, for Xinya, that was the beast that stole her mother away.

“He can’t be!” she cried. “My mother gave her life to beat it the first time!” Tears welled up in her eyes, as if her world were shattering all around her. Pollen rushed to her side, kneeling and wiping away her tears.

“It’ll be okay, Meimei. We’ll stop him.”

“He will have to be at the top of the lighthouse,” Taihua explained. “He needs to see the Serpent’s territory. Then, he’ll use the Shen bloodline to wake it.”

“How does he plan on controlling it?” I asked. If he intended to use the voices of the void to control it, then maybe I could interrupt it with my own connection. That hope was swiftly dashed as Taihua shook his head.

“He doesn’t plan on controlling it,” he answered. “He wants it to rampage and destroy you and all of Saikan, as well.”

“Brilliant,” I finished with a healthy dose of sarcasm. This guy was truly a piece of work to be so callous as to try and wipe out a whole town just to beat me. Had he ever heard of trying to kill a fly with fireball? This was beyond overkill, and he endangered innocent civilians in the process.

There was no need for further discussion. We ran…all of us except for Kansi. The Sword Saint’s disciple whistled loudly, and her sword swooped down alongside her. She leapt into the air, landing squarely on the blade and speeding towards the lighthouse.

“Show off,” Lian murmured. I couldn’t help but agree, even if the additional speed may well mean the difference between stopping Shen Tori in time and seeing the entire coast reduced to sand and splinters.

The rest of us ran as fast as we could, but the lighthouse was nearly an hour’s walk. Even with Xinya riding on my shoulders, and everyone else being Iron stage cultivators, the distance was still too great. As we approached, Xi Qian, the lighthouse keeper ran out, waving his arms.

“Masters! There’s someone in the lighthouse! I…I asked him to leave, but he’s so strong! I didn’t dare challenge him further,” he said. The sounds of clanging metal already sounded from above. Kansi had already begun the fight.

“You did right, Xi,” I reassured. “He is far too strong for you.” As proud as I was that the former fisherman had learned to pick his battles better, there was still a threat to be dealt with. “Xinya, stay here with Xi Qian. We’ll be right back.”

“There won’t be much room to fight above,” Lin pointed out. “Some should stay down here.”

“Lian, Pharyx, and Taihua, stay here with Xinya, Pollen, could you fly up from outside?” I wondered. I knew full well she was capable. Under normal circumstances, Pharyx would have been another choice for that mission, but given his suspicions regarding my moral character, I doubted he wanted to work with me.

“With ease.” Pollen flipped her hair behind her, and immediately her form shimmered. In a flash of green and pink qi, she was a fuzzy honeybee…even if she was still the size of a medium dog. She wasn’t a fast flier, but it would be enough. Lin and I darted into the building and began to climb the spiral stairs, taking three at a time.

But, as we reached the fifth floor of ten, an enormous crash of thunder shook the lighthouse. We clung to the railings to keep from tumbling down the stairs.

“That didn’t seem like a good sign,” Lin answered.

“No, it did not.”

I raced to the next landing and peered out the tiny window. Though it faced inland, I could see clouds beginning to roll in, blocking the stars.

“Do you think he already did it?”

“Only one way to find out.”

We redoubled our efforts. The remaining five floors flew by, and I threw open the hatch to the lantern room. Light shone from the lunar tears that fueled the lantern and was reflected to the sea by enormous mirrors. I was relieved that the system was intact, but Shen Tori was nowhere to be seen. Pollen joined us at the top a moment later.

“Over here!” Pollen called as she transformed back into her humanoid form. She knelt over Kansi who was unconscious and bleeding from a gash on her forehead. Pollen placed a gentle hand on the wind artist’s shoulder. She immediately jerked awake.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Where is he?! I have to stop-” she looked at the three of us. “I…I failed. I’m sorry. He got behind me and used some kind of void whisper technique. I didn’t see it coming.”

“It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re alright,” I said. She might have been the source of a great deal of anxiety for me in the last month, but, at the end of the day, Kansi was my martial niece. Even if Jinshi wanted nothing to do with me, I owed it to the relationship we’d had for nearly two thousand years to look out for his disciple…until she ultimately tried to kill me, of course.

“Yoru, look over here.” Lin’s voice was quiet. I stood and joined him, gazing out at the sea to the north and east of Saikan.

A deep blue light had begun to spread out from the Tide Serpent’s territory. Even from this distance, we could hear the waves being whipped into a fury as they began to spin into a deadly whirlpool. Clouds gathered, blocking out the moon and stars alike while shimmering blue and black Ocean qi flooded the coast, a prelude for what was to come.

“It’s stronger, this time,” Lin murmured. “I can feel it in the air.”

A cry of alarm, followed by a child’s scream resounded from the bottom of the tower. We spun around in time to see a flash of light, but then it was gone. Panic filled my heart, and I raced to the edge of the building.

“CHIHO!” I called as I threw myself from the lantern room. The pin flashed and I grabbed it. We streaked towards the ground before I landed and rolled to my feet.

Pharyx had a hand pressed to his ears while Lian forced healing qi into a bloody gash that cut up his shoulder and down his other arm. Nearby, Xi was cowering in the doorway, but Xinya and Taihua were nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?” I asked. Pharyx didn’t answer. I wasn’t even sure if he could hear me.

Lian sighed. “He struck without warning. The Queen tried to fight back, but he was cut pretty good with that rather invasive qi. I can heal his wounds with time, but the damage being done to his mind is more difficult.”

“I’ll…be fine,” Pharyx grumbled.

“He got your disciple, Tsuyuki,” Lian said. “Snatched her and Taihua and disappeared into thin air. There was nothing we could do.”

My spirit was ripped by powerful opposing forces. I had to rescue Xinya. Shen Tori was going to try and unravel her core and force her down a path of void. Forcing cultivation upon another was usually a very painful and invasive process for the recipient. If it was anything like the procedure I’d undergone to become Void-Touched, it was something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemies let alone my own disciple.

And yet…thunder rumbling overhead reminded me of the even more present threat. The Tide Serpent was waking. If there was ever a time to strike it would have to be soon, before it fully wakened. And that was to say nothing of the townspeople. If we didn’t warn them, it may be too late for them to evacuate.

Rain began to fall in enormous droplets as I paced back and forth. My duty was to Xinya. She was my responsibility, but the people of Saikan had been nothing but welcoming to me since I’d woken. Could I live with their blood on my hands?

“Yoru!” Lin shouted as he reached the lighthouse exit. Pollen followed after, supporting Kansi over her shoulders. “The tide is already receding. We have to warn the village!”

“Shen Tori took Xinya!” I answered. My voice cracked under the strain. Lin looked as if he’d been slapped, and I could see him working through the same logic spiral that I was. In the end, he shook his head.

“We have to warn the people first. Half of them are drunk, and the rest are nowhere near the docks and won’t see it in time,” he explained.

“But what about Xinya?! We have to save her! What if he…what if he…” I couldn’t even bring myself to say what he might do to her, but images of a broken girl dripping with unwanted void qi flooded my mind.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the distracting thoughts gave the perfect chance for a mix of voices to steal into my mind. The Void and its whispers seemed to be in disagreement. Some argued that Xinya would be better off under its guidance, others urged me to return Shen Tori’s gesture, strike at a fly with a fireball. He wouldn’t be able to run again if his entire province was destroyed. Through it all, threads of the Labyrinth’s wicked touch added fuel to every fire. They inflamed the images of a Voided Xinya, twisting her into a monster that only my own imagination could conjure. In the same breath, they dredged up flashes of destruction, scenes from my past failings, destroying Daying and Fu Yao, fighting the Ascendents, being locked away for my efforts.

I pressed my hands to my head and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to quiet it all enough to think, but it was insistent. Voices battled, and I was lost in the maelstrom…

Until cold hands took my own. I opened my eyes to see Lin’s calm jade eyes. They were filled with understanding and strength.

“Push them back, Yoru,” he said calmly. “He will take her to the Hunting Lodge, but that is beyond Hanai. We will get there, but the people of Saikan will die first if we don’t help them now.”

He was right…

“Xinya is strong-willed,” Pollen added. “I am certain she will resist his machinations until we arrive.”

They were all right. Xinya wouldn’t give in so easily. She was known to be the most irritable and high-strung child in Saikan. Even her own father had affectionately referred to her as the Hellion of Saikan. She was more than used to standing up to her elders and her seniors alike.

“We will rescue her as soon as we can,” Lin insisted.

I gripped Lin’s hands, letting his words wash over me and fill my mind with calm. They were like wind through the trees on a cool summer’s day, and in the face of their steady strength, the voices began to wither and die. The void quieted, and the Labyrinth was forced out of my thoughts once more. When I was clear-headed again, I cleared my throat.

“Alright, we have two priorities,” I began. “Getting the villagers to safety is paramount. Only once they are in the clear can we take on the Serpent.”

“How would we even reach the Tide Serpent?” Pollen asked incredulously. “The storm waves are only going to get worse. No boat could handle that, and Pharyx and I cannot fly in this weather.”

“I’ll do it,” Kansi said, shrugging off Pollen’s aid to step forward. She grimaced slightly, but stood tall despite her injuries. “I can fly with my sword techniques.”

Sword techniques…hmmm. An idea began to form in the back of my thoughts. It was going to be risky, and would probably result in my death, but as long as that death came after the Tide Serpent and Shen Tori, I’d accept it.

“Alright, Pollen, may we trouble you to host the villagers at the Honey Hive in case everything goes awry?” I asked. Pollen nodded.

“So long as the Hive is above water, your people will have a home,” she promised. “And, if the waters rise that high, then the extra hands will be handy for moving my brood.”

“We owe you a great debt.” Lin bowed deeply to the Honeybee Queen. “If ever you need help in the future, please do not hesitate to call upon us.”

“Careful, or he’ll start reciting blessings in your name,” I teased. Lin just scowled and shoved me in the arm. I chuckled before turning to Lian. “Lian, do you have a means of flying?”

“I have a couple fengmori under contract,” he answered. “They’ll be thrilled to fly in a storm like this.” Lin shrank back a few inches. He did not have a good experience with fengmori, but we were out of options.

“Excellent. You, me, Lin, and Kansi will make the attack party,” I announced. “We’ll fly over the town to spread the word and direct them to Pollen. Then, we’ll take to the skies and take out the scaly bastard before he can drown the Shore.”

Lin coughed in surprise. “I’m sorry, Yoru, did I hear you right? You and I are on the attack team?”

“Yes.”

“And how do you expect us to get there? I cannot sail well enough to navigate those waters, and last I checked, neither of us can fly.”

I grinned wickedly. “You’re about to learn.”