Wen Reian

2019 years after The Long Night

Xibù Shataar

“Would you please stop standing so close to me?!”

Wen Reian’s ears were burning, not from embarrassment but anger. Again.

The entire way from The Wanderers camp through town, Lan Kai-Le had stuck to his heels like glue. Far too sticky glue. Glue that could not be removed no matter what he tried! The healer only dimly recalled the evening prior. Something about coins, and he was sure he’d said some stupid words to the man. But why was he so damn clingy?!

At last at the Xichang Bridge, where they’d been told to go by A’Ma’s father earlier that morning, Wen Rei gazed across it, over the expanse of rolling hills. It seemed impossible to cross into whatever lay beyond, but they had to try.

He recalled the clan leader’s words...

“Xie Xingyue would never leave The Stronghold, not even if the thing was on fire. Your Princess will have been taken there, but it is too dangerous to cross The Dust Maze without a guide-”

Reian’s response had been probably a little too rushed. He’d thanked the man, bid farewell, and dragged Lan Kai-Le along. They were getting through this desert, one way or another…

On their way out of town they were stopped by Lan Kai-Le’s puppy, A’Qin. The boy was happy to see them, glad they’d been treated well by The Wanderers, and Reian actually decided he was actually grateful for the boy, as he’d anticipated their travel to find A’Jun and put together a few necessities like food and water.

Reian also packed for the journey. Likely overpacked. He didn’t know what they would face, so he decided it was better safe than sorry.

“Here,” He said, going to tie a strip of cloth over Lan Kai-Le’s head as they stopped on the bridge.

As he reached up, Wen Reian’s wrist was suddenly caught in midair, the hunter staring at him like he was the insane one for a change. Reian gulped, gazing up into those stunning eyes as they reflected the sun.

“You…” he blinked, “You should put this on.”

Reian was wearing a similar one, in an effort to keep some of the sun's rays off his skin. Instead of allowing him to help, Lan Kai-Le frowned, taking the cloth from the rather stupefied healer and tying it himself. Reian felt rather wronged, if he thought about it too much.

He’s been in my space all day! Bumping into me, stepping on my feet, I really couldn’t catch a break! But I’m not allowed to touch him?! What is this double standard he’s got going on, honestly-

The man couldn’t stand to dwell on it another second. He took a deep breath and went about crossing the bridge. He felt Lan Kai-Le following, and pretty soon it was them versus the desert. Well, Wen Reian versus steep dunes that he’d never had the misfortune of having to climb before, and never wished to again...

Again, he was grateful for Kai-Le, as the hunter made it his job to catch Reian when he fell, yanking him back up, or even just being an anchor when Reian’s footing got a little shaky.

It’s not my fault I’ve never walked on anything like this before! Hêi’àn City is all rock, Jingshén is all dirt... sand makes everything twice as hard!!

Using the setting sun behind them as a guide, they were able to make it across the hills and onto the flat of the desert, but it was still difficult. Not only was Reian hot and exhausted after only four hours, but his anxiety was growing out of control with every step they took.

What am I going to do when I get there?! Is A’Jun safe… does Xie Xingyue want to ransom her? But, Yi-jun and Songcai said they haven’t received any threats-

Growing dizzy from it all, the healer slowed. He slowed so much that finally Lan Kai-Le stopped, sitting down in the middle of the blazing desert and rifling through their shared bag of food and water.

“Hey, don’t-”

Before Reian could even warn him not to drink it all, the man was handing the flask to him. Lan Kai-Le didn’t bat an eyelid, nor did he look out of breath. After smothering his surprise at being offered the first sip, Wen Reian graciously took it, handing it back with a satisfied sigh and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. Courtesy be damned, we’re in hell now…

While Kai-Le drank, Reian looked around. From here, there wasn’t much to see; the cracked earth beneath their feet which stretched on for a while longer, then it seemed they would reach The Dust Maze. It wasn’t high on Reian’s to-do list to wander around that place in the dark, but he also had no way of knowing what sort of wild animals or other dangers were out here in the flats at night. At last, bored of the silence, Wen Reian spoke-

“What do you think? Should we sleep out here tonight or try to make it to those dunes?”

Lan Kai-Le looked at the horizon, then he stood. Apparently Wen Rei’s answer was, the man resuming their trek, walking off before Reian could ever stammer another word.

I’m truly going to die of nerves before we even get there… Reian thought glumly, as all his thoughts circled back to A’Jun.

But, what could he possibly make conversation about with a man such as this?! Reian didn’t know much about Kai-Le’s way of life, and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to.

Lan Kai-Le is here because I can’t get rid of him, he reasoned. He’s here because, in all honesty, I have a better chance of rescuing A’Jun if he’s on my side. And if he’s only here to get his own revenge, well, at the very least he can be a distraction while I get the Princess out of there-

Sighing rather loudly from fatigue, Reian’s gaze was once again caught by a few of the beads and trinkets woven into Kai-Le’s hair. Some of the metal glinted as the sun caught its edges, making it appear as if the man was shining. Quite pretty...

Blaming it on heatstroke, Reian reached out without thinking, moving to straighten one of the coins that had flipped over. Lan Kai-Le felt him move and quickly stepped away.

“S-sorry, I was trying to fix-”

Reian blinked, stopped in his tracks at the amount of fear in Lan Kai-Le’s eyes. It wasn’t anger, it was definitely fear. He was afraid… why? Carefully, Wen Rei lowered his hand.

“I won’t touch it. Okay? I won’t do that again,”

The man visibly relaxed, but still had a cautionary glint in his eye, like he was waiting for Reian to maybe do something else invasive. The healer frowned...

“You don’t like when people touch you,”

The man tilted his head, trying to understand Reian’s words.

Reian spoke again, instead posing a question; “Are you afraid of being touched?”

Lan Kai-Le seemed to think deeply about this. As if trying to prove it wasn’t true, he reached out and placed his hand on Reian’s shoulder, demonstrating. The healer smiled at the innocent explanation, so he tried to reach out and do the same, but Kai-Le stepped back before he could. Finally, the hunter nodded.

“My hair. Don’t touch… I don’t-” he seemed to look for the words, glancing around as if he’d dropped them.

“Coins?” He said, gesturing. “They tried to take them,”

Wen Reian felt as if he understood immediately, and he felt a bit embarrassed and sad at what the man was saying. He was fearful of others touching his hair, specifically because in the past, people have attempted to steal these last artifacts from his parents.

Reian imagined, all the times Lan Kai-Le must have been starving, or cold, or thirsty and he had these handfuls of gemstones and precious metals that meant more to him than staying alive did.

How he must have clung to them, unable to spend them, unable to part with them for even a second, eventually having to tie them into the strands of his hair...

Reian imagined that if he’d had anything at all left of his parents, he would have done something similar-

Or maybe not. At least Kai-Le’s parents must have loved and wanted him… oh, cry me a river, Wen Rei!

“Got it,” he tried to offer the man a friendly smile. “Shall we continue?”

Settling back into the silence of a few moments ago, they resumed their journey, Reian finding a steady rhythm of Lan Kai-Le’s walking and breathing that he tried to match. The hunter was obviously more fit than him in every way, but Reian was unerringly determined. They ended up reaching the first hills of The Dust Maze just before dark… the sight, spectacular if terrifying.

“Wow-”

Reian’s voice was swallowed almost entirely by the wind. Standing at the top of the dune, beneath them was, as far as the eye could see, a field of swirling sand. As if The Dust Maze was an ocean, ever-changing, with no end in sight. Reian wasn’t even sure if they climbed down into it, how long it would be before they touched the ground.

I’m starting to see why this isn’t a super popular place…

“H-hold on a second,” he stammered, trying to crane his neck to see if there was any way down that was safe. He knew it was dangerous to venture here, but people did it, so it also must be possible.

Lan Kai-Le was staring into the distance, clearly possessing a one track mind and already desperate to get on with their journey. Reian appreciated his urgency but felt that the man’s problem-solving skills left something to be desired.

Wishing he had something he could throw into the, for lack of a better word, ‘abyss’ Wen Reian chewed his lip silently as he realized that even if there was such a thing, he would never hear it reach the bottom anyway…

Deciding on the only course of action, he nervously began taking out the coil of rope from their bag. It was a last minute addition but one he was now grateful for.

Xie Yi-jun used to make fun of me for being over prepared. Thankfully, I haven’t changed-

“Alright, here’s the plan!”

Trying to make his voice heard over the wind was a little tedious, so with a crook of his finger, Reian urged Lan Kai-Le closer.

Then, the strangest thing happened as their eyes met. Wen Reian was speechless again, unable to hear anything around him for the duration of several seconds, the time in which Lan Kai-Le came nearer, obediently drawing his face closer to Reian.

It was impossible, what Reian was seeing in the man’s eyes… Maybe he was hallucinating from dehydration, but Kai-Le had made sure he hadn’t been without water.

His eyes are the color of the sand, how marvelous, just like his precious coins-

Within them Reian saw his own spirit looking back at him. Pieces and grains of himself that he both feared and admired in their own way; in Kai-Le’s eyes he saw stubbornness dulled by good intentions. He saw the terror to look back on the past, inside of a mind that stared forward-

His soul is still hidden, and yet I recognize pieces of it as if he were me…

As the wind changed direction, Reian’s focus on Kai-Le’s eyes was blurred by strands of his hair. After pushing them away he forced himself to steady as he told the man what they were going to do.

After checking to make sure that the rope around Lan Kai-Le’s waist would hold his weight, and the hunter assuring him for a third time that Wen Reian wouldn’t just yank him down, Reian wrapped the other end around his forearms and wrists a few times, then gripped it in each hand.

I’ve definitely had stupider ideas, this can’t possibly be in the top ten-

He was just glad Yi-jun and Songcai weren’t here to see what he was about to do…

“Okay, make sure you hold on!” He cautioned again, stomach already tying itself in knots.

As Reian sat down on the ledge, he gave one last look back at Lan Kai-Le. The man was watching him closely but seemed unworried. Reian was sure Kai-Le wasn’t the part of this plan he’d need to be concerned about…

“When you feel me tug twice on the rope, that means I’ve reached the bottom. Hopefully it won’t be too far and we can find a way for you to follow-”

“Wen Reian.”

Kai-Le paused, forehead creasing suddenly. He was searching for words again…

Reian just shook his head, “Don’t worry! What’s the worst that could happen?!”

Lan Kai-Le frowned and clearly that was Reian’s answer.

Okay, time to go-

Sliding himself off the steep edge of the hill wasn’t fun nor was it graceful in any way, but Reian was dangling over the ledge with a mouthful of sand soon, heart beating a frantic rhythm as he felt his entire weight being supported by the rope, by Lan Kai-Le.

Here goes nothing…

“Start lowering me!!”

After having to scream that a few times, finally he felt himself beginning to descend. Tiny particles of sand kept the ground invisible, and as far as Reian could see he was simply suspended in the middle of a thick, gritty fog.

The further down he got the darker it got, and pretty soon Wen Reian was shivering, still clinging onto the rope as tight as he could, trying not to think about any rope burns he was probably giving himself. It was several minutes, or what felt like minutes, before he was able to finally feel the ground beneath him. When he did, Reian gave a deep sigh of relief, very nearly going weak at the knees at solid ground under him at last.

That has to be fifteen or twenty feet-

About to yank twice on the rope, Reian froze. He sighed again, thankful that he’d seen it before he’d done something stupid like fallen in…

At the base of the hill, beside his feet, was a deep hole that appeared to vanish under the sand. As he ticked through the countless horrible things he imagined might be in there, some sand spilled down around him from above and caught him off guard.

“Ach!”

He choked on it a bit, then tugged on the rope, hoping to alert Lan Kai-Le of where he was. As more and more sand kept piling up around him, the cliff began to shift and rumble. Before long, Wen Reian was certain of what was happening, and that he had no chance to get away.

“Kai-Le!”

There really was no point in warning him. Lan Kai-Le fell as the ground underneath him dropped away. He rolled down the side of the cliff, then right into the hole in a mess of sand, dirt, and flapping rope.

Reian glanced down at his own hands wrapped around the same rope, seconds before he was pulled in as well. They tumbled deeper and deeper underground, until Reian noticed the sand becoming wetter, rockier, and as the opening was buried behind them.