On the third day after our arrival, I found myself once more in a training hall – neither Walker or Aella were there yet, and I was taking the opportunity to work on my footwork. I moved through the steps of The Sword’s Tide, concentrating on my balance and keeping the movements as smooth as possible. It had been easy to keep my mind on the sword when I had started, but as I had been told repeatedly since I took my first step towards perfection, the sword was only a part of the whole. Walker had told me that a skilled fighter could read a person’s moves in the slightly alteration of their stance or balance, in the flexing of muscle and ligaments. It was those tell-tale signs I was trying to minimise as much as I could that morning, as well as working on my basic coordination.

After an hour of moving through the footwork, I moved through the full form – not quite as slowly as Walker’s first example – while trying to internalise them. As I moved, I cultivated; being completely in the moment was fantastic for practice. While in the past I had always worked with the thought that practice was good for cultivation, as it turned out it was true both ways.

The second hour passed quickly with my attention so devoted to the task. Coming to a stop and shaking the ache from my limbs, I looked around for my teacher and mentor. Not seeing them, I stored my sword once more and with a sigh pulled the chain from a storage ring. Aella had finally given it back to me the day before and then proceeded to teach me the basics of the weighted chain once again. The second attempt had gone much better than the first, which was of course not particularly difficult, given how the first had gone.

Slipping a length free, I began to spin it – slowly – vertically to my side, but was interrupted by a somebody speaking from behind me.

“Why are you practicing the chain and the sword? It is little wonder you perform so poorly if you cannot commit to a single path.”

I spun to face the speaker, having thought I was alone. I reflexively reached up to snatch the chains weight from the air as I moved into its path, Instinctive Precognition allowing me to avoid being smacked in the temple.

Directly behind me was Darina. I glared at her, though it did not seem to faze her in the slightest. She just looked questioningly back at me, a slight sneer on her annoyingly pretty face.

“I told you, I haven’t been doing this for long. I’m just trying to see which I’m better with.”

“Well, you didn’t come close to braining yourself with the sword, so I’d say you’re better – marginally – with that.”

“That was your fault!” I did not feel the need to vocalise the ‘this time’ that my brain helpfully added on.

“Excuses. You should not be so surprised by an unexpected sound that you nearly hit yourself with your own weapon.”

I knew she was right, but I was not going to give her the satisfaction of admitting it.

“Why are you here, anyway? Is there something I can help you with?”

“I was passing by and noticed your... attempts... at swordsmanship. I thought I’d watch to give me something to cheer myself up for our coming journey.”

“Do you have to be so... you know what, never mind. I’m sure you were a legendary master after your first month of training, but some of us need to practice.”

I turned away, doing my best to dismiss her from my mind and started to spin the chain once more.

“A month? I do not believe you. As Apprentice to an Apex, you should not lie so easily.”

Still doing my best to ignore her, I hooked the spinning chain around my elbow and changed directions, still going slowly, but conscious that even at these speeds the weight would hurt if it hit me.

“You will not even defend yourself? I was right – you have no pride.”

I allowed the chain to spiral around my elbow this time, hoping to extend it and allow the weight to shoot out, but I got the angle wrong and the weight came whipping back around at my face. Jerking back, allowed the chain to come to a halt and untangled it from my arm.

Instinctive Precognition flared once more and I stepped sideways, turning my body and bringing my arms down, back and around to hook Darina’s foot before throwing it up as hard as I could. This all happened in a moment. I blinked as the short woman flipped end over end before landing on her feet once more, her face a dark red and now wearing a glare of her own.

“It is rude to ignore a person speaking to you!”

I frowned, trying to reconcile somebody wanting civility while constantly insulting the person they are speaking to. And then trying to kick them in the spine.

“You’ve done nothing but insult me since we met. Why should I listen to you, or speak to you? Why would I? You’re a better fighter than I am, obviously, but you’re a real asshole, Darina.”

“How dare-”

“And don’t start that shit either. Of course I dare, otherwise I wouldn’t have said it. Saying something like that just makes you sound dumb. And I’m not lying. I’ve been cultivating for just over a month, and practicing for the same length of time. I understand, I’m weak, but I’m trying to fix that, okay?!” My voice was rising by the end, and I found myself almost shouting. It was one thing to hear it from my friends, who I knew did not mean anything hurtful, but quite another to hear it from some random stranger, and so frequently.

“He’s telling you the truth! Just over a month, which is why he should probably avoid shouting at people who can beat him into paste...” I turned to find Aella and Walker on the other side of the sand, and I felt my face heat, knowing what she said was true.

“Honoured Apex, Lady Aella,” Darina bowed deeply, her voice perfectly respectful now. Coming out of her bow, she continued to speak, her eyes focused on the floor. “Forgive me, but it does not seem possible to have come so far in a month.”

“It is true – Hunter comes from... far away. His people are normally incapable of cultivation. It seems to be a limitation of their home, rather than a flaw within them. He has worked hard, and been through much to achieve his current state. Sonja informs me that she assisted you in extending your own circulation channels – you recall the pain involved?”

Darina nodded, stiffening at what I had to assume was the memory of the pain. If her experience had been anything like my own, I had to feel some sympathy.

“Hunter went through something similar,” Walker turned his blindfolded gaze in my direction.. I took the pause as a question and nodded. “He was being tortured at the time, by the same people who unleashed the plague here. They forced two elixirs into his system – as I understand it, one was to increase the pain many times and to keep him conscious, and another which was also derived from the phoenix egg to prevent his death. Under the effects of these elixirs – unguided – he blindly forged his channels. They follow his every nerve, as well as his vascular system.”

I felt strangely shy at having somebody say it out loud – I tried not to think about it too much, as even the memory of it was enough to make me break into a cold sweat, especially after Ro had given me medicine to help me recall it. The human mind is not designed to hold so firmly onto trauma.

“You were under the effects of something that increased pain while you did this?” Darina’s voice held something I did not expect, as I looked up to meet her gaze – it held sympathy. It seemed that while she was perfectly happy to call me a liar, she was not willing to do the same to an Apex.

“Yeah... it wasn’t great. Would not recommend it. Still, I’m pretty sure it saved my life so, you know. Ups and downs.”

“... Perhaps you are less of an embarrassment than I had believed. I will leave you to your practice. Train hard, Hunter. I look forward to defeating you when we are closer in strength.”

With another bow to my friends, the red-eyed girl walked out of the practice hall, and with a shrug I turned back to my teacher and mentor, ready for another day of practice.

*

***

*

I sat with Reff and Riffa on a balcony as we watched the sun sinking below the horizon. It had been a long day, with Walker and Aella pushing me harder and harder, trying to prepare me as much as possible for my trip. I had come a long way since my arrival on that world, but all three of us knew that I was still a very small fish in a very large pond.

Turning to the two siblings, I brought my attention back to the moment and took a sip of my tea before speaking.,

“So, Riffa, did Reff manage to persuade your brother to let you come with us?” I saw my huge friend shoot me a subdued glare over the rim of his own cup and I did my best to restrain my grin.

“With justified irritation, no, he did not. Raaf has placed me in charge of preparing for the arrival of the Apexes. It is the first full conclave in many years, and he wishes our home to make a good impression.”

“In strained appeasement, it is an important task, Riffa. You do not always need to be so competitive.”

“With rising irritation, it is not about competition, brother. I wish to Experience the world as much as you do, and it is not fair that you are always chosen, just because you are stronger than I am. And besides, I have been to the Sha Forest, whereas you have not.”

“In victory, there, you see? You have already Experienced the Sha Forest, where I have not. It makes sense for me to go, so we both may grow from such a visitation.”

I was not sure I agreed with my friend, but we would also be traveling with Darina, who was apparently from there originally, so our need for another guide was limited. I was not about to get between the two of them, of course. It was far too entertaining to see the two of them go back and forth. The way Reff’s people talked, or the way they structured their sentences, with the tone given at the start had some interesting implications, not the least of which was that when speaking to your younger sister, claiming victory at the start of your sentence was probably not the route to victory.

Riffa’s sapphire-on-black eyes narrowed at her brother, and if they had been human, I would have been anticipating a shouting match, but I had never heard even Reff – who was apparently one of the most short-tempered members of his race – shout, let alone anybody else.

“With certainty, I will be speaking to brother again about accompanying you. Perhaps, Hunter could lend his voice?” I sat up a little straighter as she shifted the focus to me and I could see Reff shaking his head at me, eyes wide.

“Uh, I’m, uh, not sure it’s my place, Riffa. Your brother is an Apex and a ruler, I don’t think it would be right for me to question his decisions.”

“With unmasked persuasion, you saved our people from the disease which plagued it, Hunter. I am sure Raaf would pay careful heed to your words.”

This is what I got for stoking the fire I guess. I sipped my tea some more to buy time, the steam condensing into a dense fog as the temperature dropped further.

“I wouldn’t want to use a good deed to my benefit, Riffa. I didn’t do it so I could ask your brother for favours, I did it because it was the right thing to do. I wouldn’t want to cheapen the act.”

“In frustration, I understand, Hunter. It speaks well of you that you would not seek to benefit from such actions. I suppose I will simply have to be persistent. You do not leave for days still, there is time to convince Raaf I am sure.”

With that, Riffa stood, and with a smile to her brother and I, she walked away, her stride firm with purpose and I felt a little sorry for Raaf, Apex of the Mountain’s Seed in that moment. It did not matter how powerful you were, family was family after all.

Reff and I sat in companionable silence for a while, watching as the frosted desert once more came to bright life, the colours rippling across the land in waves for as far as they could see.

“Reff, I’m worried. So far, this task has gone pretty smoothly, but the way it’s worded makes me think things could go really wrong. And I’m still pretty weak.”

My friend turned to me; his face was serious and his garnet-on-black eyes steady.

“With solid surety, the world is wide and time is deep, Hunter. Things go wrong every day – people live, love and die. Nations rise and fall. Life is not only the smooth, but the rough as well. We must do this thing, and while it is good to plan for when the wyrm turns, we should not live in fear of it. We must do the best we can, because that is all that can be done. Even a Pinnacle stage cultivator would be weak when faced with an Elder beast, and to face an immortal Elder phoenix, I think even an Apex would hesitate.”

I considered his words – it was a lot, from my normally restrained friend. He was right, I knew; in my first life, I have lived in constant fear of what could go wrong – what I feared always would go wrong – and it had been a hollow, rotten life. My circumstances were different then, that much was certain, but even with much larger stakes, I knew he was right: It was something that had to be done, and even if I was weak, so were most against such a being.

“Thanks, Reff.”

“In camaraderie, you are welcome, Hunter.”

We sat watching the dancing lights of the desert in silence for a while longer, sipping our cooling tea.

“So, do you think Riffa will convince your brother?”

He winced and rubbed one massive hand over his face.

“With resignation, it will probably be so. Perhaps we could leave early...?”