Chapter 24

The thing in the river

Sai made a small forge that he could use to burn the bodies of the bearwolves. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't burn their fur however, Sai did not start on the dao of heat, just of combustion, he only knew how to make things burn in a combustion reaction, and the reaction was only so hot.

Since the pelts couldn't be burned, Sai spent some time cutting them into a set of armor. He sat atop a chair made of earth and cut and sewed nearly fifteen sets of armor while the two moved through the edge of the woods, just far enough away from the river to not worry about whatever was following them. It was near the end of the night when Sai finished, they were supposed to be at Albert’s village, but the bearwolves had sidetracked then for quite some time and still had an hour or two left to travel.

It was near dawn when the two had heard the giant reflection in the river begin to sing, it did not sound like the sing of a whale like Sai would have expected, it was much higher pitched, like a woman's.

Sai had imagined that this voice was the same add the voice that sang the song at the end of the movie about the boat crashing into the iceberg. The song was alluring and Albert turned to face it, a pleasant smile on his lips a look of calm spread across his face. Albert changed direction and immediately headed toward the sound.

“Grandma, is that a siren?” Sai asked.

“What? No, of course not. It is definitely powerful, but I don't think it will harm you. It is probably a cursed woman or something similar.” Grandma Black was adamant that sirens weren't a thing.

“Could a cursed woman transfer her curse to someone?” Sai asked. He couldn't stop Albert at all.

“Of course not. How could it be a curse if it is transferred or lifted so easily.” Grandma Black had a point, Sai still worried though. Even after using his spirit power, the only thing Sai could do was listen to Albert think about the song.

Sai and Albert neared the river and saw that the thing that was glowing was no longer in the water, rather it was standing on it. Albert was not in a right state of mind, so Sai caked out to the bright glowing light. “What are you? What are you doing to my friend?” Sai knew that anything that was strong enough to defy physics appeared it certainly could understand human language.

Sai waited silently for an answer from whatever was singing. Finally one came, “I am the light of the river, and I am doing nothing to your friend.”

“Why is he in a trance from your music if you aren't doing anything to him?” Sai asked, this light of the river thing was already creepy, Sai had only ever seen one other monster, and those were dogs.

“He is drawn to me because he has never been with a woman, why aren't you drawn to me? How can someone as young as you have been with a woman?” The light asked Sai.

Sai thought back to a party he had been at before his death. He couldn't remember the night at all, he had taken lsd for the first time and was in his own world. He guessed that he had done it then because one girl at that party wanted to spend time with him quite a bit more often than before, Sai just didn't want to hurt her feelings and say he didn't remember what they had done together. He had just turned sixteen that week, she was almost seventeen and he hadn't realized she wanted a relationship until she asked him about that night. He didn't remember anything and she left his house crying.

Sai was reminiscing when the light said “So it was like that. Few get lucky enough to have a second chance. Fewer even remember their first chance.” Sai knew the light was talking about his reincarnation. Sai panicked because that meant that the light could use spirit power at a higher level than himself.

“Do not worry boy, I am not going to harm you either. Especially since you are the one who has given me strength,” the light said.

“How did I give you strength?” Sai was curious.

“you made the river longer, this directly raises my power and has allowed me to take form in a physical shape.” The light said then slowly walked toward Sai and Albert. What was odd was that the singing never stopped, even when the voice spoke, as if it was an effect of the light rather than a direct action the light made.

“You are interesting boy, you unwittingly helped me therefore I helped you.” The light said, Sai wasn't sure how the light had helped him, but he was fairly certain that it would be a gift that Sai would enjoy. The light stood directly in front of Silent, the light faded extremely when it left the river. It could be seen as a ghost now, still bright, but not blinding.

“This is your gift,” Just add the light said that, it knelt down to Sai’s hight, then kissed his forehead. A flash appeared behind Sai’s eyes and he could see that the light had indeed given him a gift. It had made everything that lives on his land fertile, healthy. Sai could tell that this was a permanent change as well. He could tell that the light of the river could help life flourish.

The light then stood up and backtracked to the river, gaining brightness once more, the beautiful ghost becoming a star on the river. “Your family will do well to live their as long as they never harm me.”

“Why would we harm you, this relationship is beneficial to both of us, even if it was accidental.” Sai answered the light, he was bewildered as to why someone would harm it after they both benefited from the relationship.

The light sank back into the river and swiftly traveled up it, back towards Sai’s house. It was about then that Albert woke up from his daze, he was almost knee deep into the water when he could finally control himself.

“What just happened?” Albert asked, still quite dazed.

“We just meet the light of the river. It is good that we met, because if not then my land would not have been gifted with fertility. It looks as if my land is going to become a very powerful kingdom in the future.” Sai was very happy over this situation, he felt that he now did not need to query about food in the future, especially with his greenhouses.

“Aren't your aspirations a bit too large? You are only four, I'm surprised you can do what you can already, but running a nation, and wrestling power from the current people in power. This would take decades. Not to mention a massive war, it would be better if you set your aspirations lower.” Albert had clearly thought about this more than Sai, he knew the work involved with a hostile takeover.

“If I become strong enough then that won't be the case. If my family gets attacked because they grow too large and threaten the powers that be then I will feel worse. My family rising to power is inevitable if I wish to keep them safe.” This was the only logic Silent needed to want to rule a small area.

“Whatever you say kid. I just think that you have eyes but cannot see. Let's go, we are already late. Let's hope my people haven't suffered yet.” Albert was visibly anxious. “My brother will not hesitate to murder just to assert his dominance.”

Sai and Albert left that place quickly, they were less than an hour away from his tribe and it was already dawn. Sai created a small landing with magic that he used to keep up with Albert who could run faster than anyone else Sai had met.

“Silent, why were you not affected by that light of the river like I was? Shouldn't you have been more affected since you are weaker physically?” Albert was curious, he also felt bad because he was older and stronger yet could not hold off the light’s song, but Sai could.

“It isn't your fault, the light said that you would have been fine had you not been a virgin,” Sai reiterated what the light of the river claimed.

“That doesn't explain why you weren't affected by it,” Albert said.

“That is a conversation for a different time, just forget what happened for now, we should be close and that conversation is a very long one.” Sai was avoiding the question, not because he didn't want to answer, but because he wasn't sure how Albert, his only friend so far in four years would feel about it.