Seven days after leaving Gladewood the carpenter, an older gentleman named Omeo, came trudging down the path with his helper. With their help, and supplies, we were able to get the roof for my new room framed and shingled within a day. To my chagrin, and the amusement of everyone else, I had forgotten to order a bed from Batuhan while in the village. He also delivered a note from Batuhan along with a large crate of spices and several sets of clothing. In the note, Batuhan requested instructions on what I expected him to do with the box of wealth I had so casually left in his inn. In truth, I hadn’t given the hairs a second though when I left them sitting on his counter. They may have represented a fortune, but for me it was an abstract concept. I could already make a year’s wages by just taking an afternoon walk and picking flowers, and it wasn’t like I had a place to spend the wealth regardless. I sent a note back with Omeo, requesting a bed of some sort and offering him a generous commission to convert the hairs, a few at a time, into a less conspicuous but still portable trade good or currency.

Time passed by quickly as the three of us settled into a routine. I rose at dawn and did weapons and physical training until late afternoon. We would eat an evening meal and then I would cultivate with Shunakhai until midnight. After a few false starts on my part I had learned how to stay in the cultivation trance despite her enthusiasm. She had begun to eat even more ravenously since we had begun to cultivate together and was adding size and bulk with every day that passed.

Two weeks after the departure of Omeo and his apprentice I broke through to the second rank. I had chosen a spot on the river downstream from the cottage with a flat sandy bank. Temüjin was observing from a safe distance with Shunakhai. Cross-legged, I entered my cultivation trance. Drawing in qi, I slowly pushed it into my body. My efforts were met with a resistance that felt almost like jelly. When I exerted force, the qi would bend the barrier, but it would just snap back into place when the force was released. Slowly, oh so very slowly, I increased the pressure while keeping it evenly distributed. As I gathered in additional qi from the surrounding area a vortex began to form, just like my first breakthrough. My entire body spasmed as bolts of actinic-colored lightning, formed of raw qi, began to flash out from the vortex and slam into me before grounding themselves out on the sand below me.The vortex continued to grow as the lightning flashed so quickly it formed a web of color around me. Great gouts of sand were blasted out of the riverbank as stray bolts missed my body and slammed into the ground. A disgusting smell, which the small part of my brain still functioning identified as burning hair, filled the air around me. I threw my head back as the vortex grew too large to sustain itself and collapsed, filling me with the energy of the world and igniting a brutal qi storm above me.

I braced myself as the pain hit. To start it off it wasn’t nearly as bad as my first breakthrough. It felt like I had just taken the deepest breath that I could…and then taken another one, just as large. Unlike the last time, though, the feeling continued to build further until I was truly fearful that the energy would overwhelm me. I could feel the machine gun staccato of my pulse pounding in my ears as the very bonds that held my body together were slowly overwhelmed. It was overshadowed only by a high-pitched screech that I soon realized was me. The tears that leaked from my eyes vaporized instantly on contact with my skin and my nose was filled with the sweet smell of cooking flesh. I felt a hard impact on my body and the jolt was enough to tip my conscious mind into darkness.

***

I awoke on a sheet of glass. The intense heat from the qi storm had fused the sandy riverbank into a sheet of blackened shards. A heavy weight was on my chest, and as I lifted my head with a groan I saw Shunakhai on my chest. Her previously silver scales had darkened to a bronze hue and had taken on an armored look, although the blueish highlights had remained in a ring around her eyes. She had also more than doubled in size.

Temüjin stood outside the ring of blasted glass, a worried expression on his face, “Karlus! Are you ok? Eternal Blue Sky, that was intense.”

“I think so,” I replied, my head still fuzzy. “Why is my drake a different color?”

“Something…went wrong,” he said, “The vortex collapsed but the excess power didn’t bleed off. It stayed, raging with you in the middle of it. She went completely crazy and fought with me until I was forced to release her, lest I hurt her with restraint. She darted into the qi storm and when she touched you the power bled off into her.”

“Good girl,” I muttered, and laid my head back down on the ground, heedless of the glass, reveling in the absence of pain. A complex combination of relief, happiness, and a slight hint of anger flowed back from her in response. It was the most complete communication I had ever received from her and it brought a smile to my face.

***

Of course, improved communication can be both a blessing and a curse. Before her unnatural growth spurt Shunakhai was a bit like a well-behaved toddler or puppy, albeit one with needle-like teeth and claws that could shred leather. It was entertaining, and often hilarious, watching her try her best to catch fish in the river or chase butterflies through the garden. After the breakthrough she was still entertaining, I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of her “death from above” routine into the stream, but a stubborn streak had arisen in her in the weeks after the breakthrough.

Like the situation I found myself in, for example. I was trying to head to Gladewood, but she absolutely refused to be left behind. Her change in size and coloration would be impossible to explain but none of that mattered to the proud little drake.

“Please, Shun, just stay here,” I asked for what seemed to be the tenth time.

She huffed and slapped her front foot down on the ground while projecting a feeling of pure pride at me.

“I am very proud of you, Shun. But taking you into town will cause chaos. Tarkhan already dislikes me,” that provoked a snort of amusement from Temüjin, “and you’re so pretty you’d cause a scene walking down the street,” I finished, with a straight face.

It wasn’t even a lie. Her delicate silver scales had been replaced by larger ones with the color of polished bronze, and although the blue highlights had remained they were darkened to a sky blue. It was a striking combination. Even her shaped had changed dramatically. She went from a slender drake, built for speed and agility, to a larger, stockier form that more resembled a western-style dragon with no wings. While she had never exactly been inconspicuous her changed appearance would absolutely draw attention that she and I didn’t want or need.

“We’ll go hunting when I get back,” I wheedled, “A full day of hunting if you’ll stay here while I go to the village.”

As is usual in my experience, base bribery accomplished when appeals to logic and reason failed and she flounced, as much as a three-foot lizard can flounce, to her preferred basking spot on the creek and promptly began ignoring me.

Temüjin, of course, found the entire thing hilarious and his roaring laughter rang in my ears as I set out for town.

***

Early fall in the valley was just about the most perfect time of the year, I decided, as I relaxed against an old willow tree. Temüjin had ramped up the intensity of our training since my breakthrough but had encouraged me to familiarize myself with the valley within a day’s walk and had given me one day per week to explore while the weather was still agreeable. Additionally, he had kept his word and encouraged me to visit Gladewood at least once a month to pick up supplies and get to know the local townspeople. Batuhan had sold over half the hair to passing caravans over the course of the season, a few strands at a time, and given me the proceeds in the form of two pouches stuffed with glimmering gems along with a coin pouch full of more common denominations for smaller purchases.

Visiting Gladewood and having a beer and a meal I didn’t have to cook for myself was great, but my favorite spot was a small glacial lake about fifteen miles northeast of the cottage. Glacial runoff from around the valley collected in the lake and the dissolved rock and minerals tinted the waters a beautiful turquoise. The lake, in turn, was drained by a river on its eastern bank that cascaded down the mountainside in a series of pools and small waterfalls. Surrounded by evergreens, the lake was teeming with fish, which Shunakhai loved, and looked like something out of a Bob Ross painting, which I loved.

After finding the lake I had made it a point to make the trip up once a week. We’d leave at daybreak, which left plenty of time to arrive at the lake by midmorning. A little fishing would yield lunch and the rest of the day I set aside for cultivation. We’d camp overnight, and then pack up and head back to the cottage the next day. It was a peaceful place to work on cultivation, which consisted of hours of sitting in one spot and through the summer and into fall I had built a rather nice little camp site there.

***

Winter in the valley was just about the most terrible time of the year, I decided, as I shivered in the garden. In Oklahoma, snow was something we saw on television or once a year when we got an inch of the stuff and the state shut down for two days. The valley was a different story. The first true winter storm that had blown through dumped four feet of snow on us in one night. Of course, it was far from the last.

Temüjin had kicked training into high gear, seeing compromised footing and adverse weather as excellent training conditions, and seemed determined to make me end each day exhausted. Every day was physical and weapons training from dawn to dusk. After the first large snowstorm he had drilled me in mobility until I was able to walk across the top of it without breaking the crust. His latest training exercise was making me clear the yard area using only qi. I tried fire first, but that was a trap. Snow takes a lot of energy to melt and trying to sublimate it directly from a solid to a gas was draining. I found that the trick was to use a mixture of air and water qi to form a rudimentary snow blower. With a little practice I had started shooting snowballs across the river, kind of like those t-shirt cannons at sporting events. Adding a little more water qi to the mix turned them from loosely packed snowballs into dense ice balls, and rather than splattering against the rocks and trees on the far side of the river they began to hit with a solid thump.

Shunakhai loved the snow. Both Yaromir and Temüjin had spoken at length of the savagery and viciousness of the Snowsquall Drake but it wasn’t until winter that I was able to observe what made them such effective hunters. Even after losing her original form she was able to almost effortlessly glide across the top of powder or burrow through larger drifts to ambush prey. The chance for her to show off came around the solstice. A sounder of Irontusk boars had roamed near the cabin, and she singled one out for death. After burrowing through the drifts to get close to the group she burst out near the sow and delivered a crippling bite to its hind leg before darting away. The rest of the boars, knowing that the wounded animal was doomed, fled and she continued her hit and run tactics with savage efficiency. In matter of minutes blood stained the snow as she hamstrung, disemboweled, and bled out an animal twice her size and ten times her weight.

***

As the brutal winter was being replaced with the gentler touch of spring I was finally prepared to break through into the third rank. I had delayed my breakthrough as long as I could, telling myself that it was best to be prepared. But if I were being honest with myself, I was terrified. My nervous tension mounted as we all marched downstream and I was forced to rub my palms against my pants to combat the sweat. It got worse as we approached the site I had used last time. My stomach heaved as we reached the riverbank and I retched in the snow.

“Mom’s spaghetti,” I mumbled under my breath as I wiped my mouth.

“What was that?” Temüjin asked me.

“Nothing. Just nerves,” I replied.

Temüjin nodded in agreement, “We can choose another spot, if this one makes you uncomfortable. I do truly believe that this time will be fine. Your familiar is the key, I thought we agreed your boon was leading you in the right direction on this.”

“There’s a big difference between trusting in my boons and knowing for sure. You’ve been relying on your boons for centuries. I’ve had them for what? Ten months? Yeah, I’ve got a feeling that we’re on the right track…but…We’re setting up to do the same thing that almost killed me last time because of a hunch. That’s one hell of a leap of faith,” I said.

“You have met the Goddesses that gave you your powers. That you lack faith is disturbing,” he said.

Amusement overpowered nervousness for a moment and I felt compelled to answer with, “Do or do not, there is no try.”

“Exactly!” Temüjin exclaimed, ignoring the undercurrent of humor in my voice.

I took a seat in the snow and motioned Shunakhai over. She wasn’t able to perch on my shoulder any longer and had started to drape across my lap when I sat down like an oversized puppy. Between thinking of how horribly wrong this could go I couldn’t help but spare a thought as to what changes this breakthrough would bring to her. Soldier and centurion ranks were considered to be watersheds in the cultivation world for humans. A well-trained and talented human could hold their own against weaker body and foundation cultivators, but soldier rank is where the gulf between mundane and inhuman began to grow much wider. If she stayed on the normal growth pattern for a Snowquall, which she obviously wasn’t any longer, her wings would come in during this breakthrough. Neither Temüjin nor I had any ideas what else may happen, though, or if she’d progress along with me at all.

Nodding at Temüjin, I drifted away into my cultivation trance. I could feel energy crackling across my as I pressed against the barrier keeping me from soldier rank. It gave way willingly, almost eagerly, and I could feel the energy crackling along my skin as I drew it into my body. When I had begun my eyes were closed, but soon even the light that bled through my eyelids was replaced with pure darkness. There was no light, but there was sound. It filled me in great sluggish waves that I couldn’t hear so much as feel as it thundered through me. I could feel the cells in my body pulse and contract as they were filled with qi. The thundering of blood in my ears drowned out any noises in the real world as I floated through a void of blackness.

Time and space had lost all meaning to me by the time I realized that small starbursts of light were forming in the darkness. They slowly filled the void, and, like flipping a switch, consciousness flooded back into me. I sat there with my eyes closed for a moment doing a mental inventory. Nothing hurt, which was good. Fingers and toes could wiggle, also good.

“I knew it would work!” Temüjin crowed.

I leaned back to stretch while trying to stand but my legs were pinned by the newly enlarged dragon laying on them. She had doubled in size again, and her form was completely unrecognizable as a Snowsquall. Her color had darkened, slightly, and she didn’t shine under the sun like a newly minted coin any longer and her scales had thickened yet again to form a proper armor. She likewise had grown wings, although they didn’t look as heavily muscled as the rest of her. Pushing her off my legs, we both stood up. Her head came up to just over my waist and, based on the effort it took me to move her, she had to weigh at least a few hundred pounds.

Our impromptu celebration was ended, however, when a thrumming boom echoed across the valley. Temüjin paled and motioned for me to follow as he made for higher ground. The boom repeated two more times before we made it to the summit of the hill.

“What was that?” I asked.

“An alarm system,” Temüjin said, “I enchanted a few noisemakers for the folks in Gladewood.”

The cause of his haste became apparent as we looked out over the hill and saw the plume of smoke rising from miles away.

Gladewood was burning.