Tian insisted on making a quick stop back at Burning Flag City to pick up their now finished robes. Sweetdove discreetly slipped Tian a smaller package inside his robe. He might not understand trading, but he wasn’t above swapping pills for a bit of crafting work, and he had plenty to spare at the moment. He had no idea why Sweetdove wanted “Yin Nourishing Pills,” but he didn’t need them so everyone left the deal happy. Which meant Great Schemer Tian could once more make his appearance.
He controlled the urge to rub his hands together. Wouldn’t do to give the game away. Besides, he still hadn’t cracked the “schemer’s laugh” problem. Time and a place, time and a place. “Should we grab Daoist Ma? His knowledge of spirits and steppe culture should be useful.” Tian asked.
“Is he still in the city?” Liren’s eyes went vague, then nodded. “He is. Sure, good idea. What about Daoist Hou?”
“He’s only had a couple of weeks to start learning how to fight, and if I can’t keep someone alive after a battle, he sure as hell can’t.” Tian shook his head. “Besides, I want him in the city for a good long while. I want him to think of the people here as ‘his’ people, and the people to think of him as ‘their’ cultivator.”
“Oh? Why?” Liren gave him a curious look.
“It feels right. I can’t quite put it into words. Maybe I breathed in too much mortal air, but I’m starting to really care about this place. I hope this city can be a sort of West Town Temple for him. A place that teaches him about his new life, and that he can love with his whole heart.”
His voice sank, carrying the cold of deep water. “And, if necessary, a place he can die for. I won’t restrict him. He’s free to run off if he likes. But I hope chains of affection will bind him here, even after we fly away. This is a place I am fond of, but it’s not a fit home for us.”
Daoist Ma was honored and flattered to be invited to join the two Excellencies. He was delighted to make whatever little knowledge he possessed available to them. Tian’s mood improved immeasurably when he got to pull the folding boat from his ring, unfold it with a casual flick, and toss the whole thing into an ornamental pond with a splash. Ma’s reaction was everything he had hoped for.
Liren looked spectacular, pushing the boat along. The golden robes had been carefully blackened to bring the embroidery into sharp relief. What had been merely gaudy was now imposing, and while Tian didn’t have a good way to measure these things, he had the impression that the defensive quality of the robes had improved. He rested his hand against the fabric and sensed the subtle flow of qi through it. Overwhelmingly wood, of course, but…
“Oh, that’s very clever. I’m impressed.” Tian muttered. Liren looked over at him, as did Ma. Tian smiled slightly at Ma, and explained. “New robes. I’m checking the enchantments. Metal, wood and water qi dominate, which, given the materials is appropriate. However, what impressed me was that the metal is used to discriminate what sort of incoming forces it will accept, while water maintains flexibility and diverts the harm, rather than forcibly resisting it.”
Liren got it, and her eyebrows raised. Ma simply looked awed. Tian nodded, carefully hiding his satisfaction. It was good to be domineering. Maybe he should keep juniors around to react to his astounding achievements.
“You look smug. Far too smug.” Liren messaged him.
“Nonsense. I am reserved and modest.”
“Sure you are. Incidentally, stop trying to sneak a hand behind your back. It looks ridiculous when you are sitting down.”
Tian’s hand landed in his lap with a thump. “I’m doing no such thing. Tsk! This is why I scold you when you say you have good eyes.”
“Oh, not this again!” The two cheerfully bickered as they set out, Liren seemingly stoic as she silently poled the boat along, Tian genial yet reserved, as he silently sat in the bow of the boat, watching the world pass below him. Ma tried to be discreet as he looked over the edge of the boat. It seemed he hadn’t had many chances to fly before, and it was probably a bit stressful, traveling with his quiet seniors.
The area around Vermillion Bird Fort was as it ever was- rolling green grassland, as far as the eye could see. The eye could see pretty damn far, in the case of three immortals in a flying boat. Tian and Liren silently agreed to give the tribe pastured near here a pass, since their shaman seemed pretty useless.
“Daoist Ma, Why is it that so many have seen the red horse spirit, but none have managed to catch it yet? I would think shamans would be experts at such hunts.”
“Answering the senior, I plead with him to not think of it as a hunt. If there is anyone doing any hunting here, it is the Great Horse Spirit.”
“How so?” Tian raised an eyebrow.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“On the steppes, visions of a spirit horse are very good omens, usually. Quite often, tribal kings report seeing such visions before starting a campaign or some new venture.” Ma’s face twitched. “Whether you believe them or not is entirely up to you, but if the campaign is successful, everyone agrees it must have been true. An actual spirit horse is a different matter entirely. You cannot catch them, because they are under the protection of the Great Horse Spirit. A spirit horse has a sense of who, if anyone, it should carry. The two becoming more together than they were separately, you see. It’s proof of a kingly destiny.”
Tian grinned. “But is someone destined for kingship because they were picked by the horse, or did the horse pick them because they were destined for kingship?”
Ma opened his mouth to answer, and seemed to get stuck. His eyes darted from side to side, clearly trying to work it out. Tian chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. It seems I won’t catch a horse, nor will a horse pick me. I’m not fit for ruling.”
“I could.” Liren muttered.
“You could. Now, tell me about how much you will enjoy sitting still and reading memorials in your study before sitting still and listening to the affairs of court, before returning to your study to sit still and read some more.”
“Well. There are many different ways to be a king. I could be a tribal leader.”
“Not with me killing the other potential husbands you couldn’t.”
“What?”
“Pardon?” Tian blinked very innocently. “Say, do you think Han has a kingly destiny? He’s the illegitimate son of an ancient noble family. There is a lot of potential there.”
“Nah, an emperor has to give speeches and issue commands. Even if he was qualified, he isn’t qualified. But maybe a hero is enough.” Liren shook her head. “We’ll find out soon. There is a little creek over there. We’ll set our camp next to it.”
They spent a few days waiting, and occasionally scouting around. Even the so-called peaceable tribe left, heading deeper into the steppes. Everyone could feel the pressure gathering, and the weather becoming changeable. Summer storms brought lightning, and spread fires. A steppe fire was an apocalypse for nomadic herders.
“It’s a bit early for fires, don’t you think? The grass is still quite green.” Tian murmured.
“Answering the Senior, fires can break out at any season, though it is less likely to spread far when the grass is greener. However, the wind had picked up, blowing northward from the Wastes. It is believed that such winds drive more furious fires.”
“I wonder how prairie fires affect spirits. It must be normal for them. Fires come and go. But do they come with fire spirits? Is the fire itself spread by a spirit or is it a spirit itself?”
The answer to all those questions is ‘Could be.’ Animism isn’t much less confusing than daoism.
Tian shook his head. They had to wait another couple of days for Han to arrive, but they were good at waiting. When the two young heroes rode into the immortal’s camp (guided by messages from Liren) they looked weathered, dusty, and content. It seemed that both of them enjoyed the company of those who didn’t natter.
“I don’t think I ever learned the captain’s name.” Tian smiled, trying to keep his voice kind as he spoke to the kneeling soldier.
“Reporting to the Lord Immortal, this soldier is called Gongsun Zhu.”
“Did Little Han explain to you what we are doing out here?”
“Reporting, he did.”
Tian nodded slightly. “Good. Rest up. Tomorrow, you and he should ride about and see if the Red Horse feels like visiting you. If the spirit picks one of you, so much the better. If not, just take it as a bit of exercise and a chance to step away from your duties for a while.”
Tian hesitated a minute, then took a closer look at the captain. He was probably a bit older than Tian, though not much older. Mid twenties, perhaps. Careers had a way of accelerating when your dad is the general. His face was neither exceptionally handsome nor exceptionally ugly, but there was a strength in the square chin and thick, upswept eyebrows that lent him charisma. But how did he come to be free enough to go looking for the Red Horse? And without guards? Tian was tempted to ask, but decided against it. The last thing he needed was to be caught up in yet more mortal affairs.
The night passed quietly. Tian and Liren rose before dawn to cultivate, as was their custom. The horizon slowly grew brighter, but the color was wrong, and coming from two places. The two daoists gently released their cultivation and stood. You could smell it before you saw it. Acrid and piercing. Soon the clouds were visible. Rushing from the south was a fire, wide enough to cover the steppe for miles in every direction. At the edge of the fire was a herd of horses, each made of licking flame. Leading the herd was a horse that looked solid, a horse of flesh and blood with a rough red coat. Flesh and blood, but a true spirit horse none the less. Its hoofs sparked the flames the other horses rose from.
The mortals struggled to keep their nerve. Their horses didn’t. They tried to run, and Tian didn’t blame them. He could fly away, and he still wouldn’t want to be caught in the wall of whatever was coming their way. He narrowed his eyes, and threw out the boat. Liren hopped in with him.
“Daoist Ma, with us. Now.” Tian’s voice was sharp. “Student Han, Captain Gongsun… the spirit horse chose one of you. I don’t know which of you it has chosen, but one thing’s for sure. It’s testing your guts, and maybe your ability too. This is a chance for you, if you can take it.”
He kept his eyes on the boiling black clouds racing towards them. “And… try to stay safe-ish. I really don’t think we could manage a rescue.”
In the rolling black and orange smoke, a horse galloped. Bigger than the herd, bigger than a city, the horse raced across the steppes, drawn in ash and starlight. Its hoofs were the thunder of coming storms, and the drums of the horde, and the beating heart of a young man’s first gallop. It ruled over the herd, and proclaimed dominion as it passed. It was the promise of speed, and power, and simply being above others. It was the Great Horse Spirit made manifest, eager to trample any that stood in its way.