Chương 37: "Are you actually challenging me?"

Ch 37: "Are you actually challenging me?"

Zhen's fingers closed on stone as his chest slammed into ground at the bottom of the steps. It drove the breath from his lungs, and his broken ribs flared with pain. Behind him, a loud boom rippled through the air. Gasping for breath, Zhen rolled over and looked up. Gaarch stood over him, his war hammer locked against the haft of Hagra's. Both langren were braced and their muscles bulged beneath their fur as they strained. Hagra's face had split into a wide grin while Gaarch's jaw was clenched with effort.

For a long moment they held that position, neither giving ground. Then Hagra eased off and straightened up, his war hammer dropping to rest against his shoulder. His other hand came up and slapped Gaarch's back hard enough to make the younger Langren stagger forward a step.

"No need to look so serious, War Leader." Hagra chuckled as he spoke.

"The human got past me fair and square. I would've pulled my strike as soon as he touched the steps. Just wanted to see if the kid would blink." Gaarch straightened and let out a long-suffering breath. He gave Hagra a cold stare.

"Why are you like this?" Hagra shrugged.

"Have to do something to keep the afterlife interesting." He turned his attention to Zhen, who still lay sprawled across the altar's base.

"Well, well, well, Tie Zhen. You performed adequately."

"Adequately?" Gaarch's ears flattened.

"He did exceptionally. When I faced the Ordeal, I only fought through a dozen ancestors. You didn't even use your full strength against me at the final stage." Hagra didn't even pretend to be embarrassed. He waved his free hand dismissively.

"Of course. This is a trial for langren. Even with an infusion of langren blood, Tie Zhen is human. For him to earn the right to leave with our secrets, he had to prove himself far more thoroughly than any langren." Zhen pushed himself up. His ribs ground together and black spots danced across his vision but he managed to sit on the bottom step. Hagra studied him with an intensity that hadn't been there before. The playfulness had faded from his expression.

"Though I have to confess that I have never seen anything like it." He stepped closer and tilted his head.

"Your achievements in the Ordeal took thousands of deaths fewer than anyone before you." His lips pulled back from his teeth in what might have been approval.

"You have proven yourself more than worthy to carry our legacy." Gaarch inclined his head toward Hagra.

"In which case our time here is done. Thank you, Ancestor." Hagra waved them away.

"Yes, yes. Go on then. I have an eternity of oblivion waiting for me until another of my blood is foolish enough to attempt the Ordeal." But there was warmth in his voice that belied the words. Zhen slid off the bottom step onto the grass. Despite his pain he forced himself into a low bow.

"Thank you for the instruction, Master Hagra."

"Good luck out there, Tie Zhen." Hagra's expression turned serious.

"You'll need it." Zhen turned to the altar to follow Gaarch up the steps, but Hagra's hand closed on his shoulder.

"A moment." Hagra glanced at Gaarch, who had paused on the first step.

"Go ahead, descendant. I wish to speak with the human alone." Gaarch's ears twitched but he walked to the top of the steps and waited next to the altar without protest. Hagra's grip tightened.

"You have the Eye of Xiezhi." Zhen forgot about the pain and his heart started to race.

"Shh." Hagra raised a finger.

"Don't say anything, it's the only explanation for what you did. Don't worry, I'm one of the few, living or dead, who knows the power even exists. You've done right to keep it hidden."

"But understand this. Even centuries ago, when I was War Leader, the Patriarch was already obsessed with finding someone who possessed the Eye."

"You've done well to survive this long." Hagra's expression hardened.

"But he won't stop. He's been searching for someone with the Eye for thousands of years. Tomorrow, next year, ten centuries from now, it doesn't matter how long it takes. The Patriarch will find you. And when that day comes..." He leaned closer.

"You're going to need to be stronger, and to give up more, than you ever thought was possible." Zhen opened his mouth, but the ancient langren cut in as his face softened into something almost kind.

"No time for questions." Hagra gestured to the altar.

"I wouldn't answer them anyway. For now, just know that, to survive, you're going to have to grow fast. Now go." Thrown by Hagra's words Zhen walked up the steps to the altar in a daze. Unlike when he had climbed them in the shaman's cave, this time they were just ordinary steps. He turned one last time. Hagra stood on the grass looking up at him and gave him a nod. Zhen turned back, and together, he and Gaarch placed their hands on the altar. The world lurched then Zhen's feet were back on solid ground.

His hand rested on warm stone, a brazier's heat washing over his face. He was back in the Shaman's cave. The Shaman studied Zhen from the other side of the altar and a smile creased his face.

"I didn't expect to see you again, Tie Zhen. But I'm glad to see you survived Hagra's tender minstrations and that this generation now has two who have completed the Ordeal of the Ancestors." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Dawn was breaking across the Thirsting Veins as Zhen and Gaarch emerged from the Shaman's cave. The cold air was almost a shock to his system after so long in the temperate climate of the Ordeal.

His body had returned to the Thirsting Veins fully healed but he felt a bruising deep inside as his soul still struggled to adapt to all the deaths he had experienced. Gaarch moved to the plateau's edge and began his descent, finding handholds in the rockface. Zhen paused at the cliff face about to join him, then he dropped his arm and focused his intent downward. Qi flooded his meridians, and he pushed his will into the stone. Earth-attuned qi answered, surging up through the cliff face.

A stone platform pushed out of the mountainside, then another below that, and another. Stone steps formed in a descending staircase, each one wide enough for him to walk down and crumbling behind him as he stepped off. Still clinging to the side of the mountain, Gaarch looked up at him, his eyes widening. Zhen walked down the path he had just created, and the War Leader held his position on the rock face until Zhen drew level. He released his grip and dropped onto the stone platform.

"I never thought to use Earthen Citadel like this." His tone carried grudging approval.

"That's irritatingly smart." They descended together in silence, Gaarch occasionally testing the stone steps with his weight. When they reached the bottom, the War Leader glanced back up at the cliff face. There was no sign of their passing.

"You learned what you needed to in the Ordeal." Gaarch broke the silence as they approached the entrance to the Duskmane lands.

"With techniques at the level you have gotten them to, you're more than capable of training and keeping up with my scouts for two days." Gaarch stopped talking and nodded to the guards who let them through the cave entrance. As soon as they were out of earshot, Gaarch started up again.

"I suggest you limit the use of your techniques during training." Gaarch's tone made it clear this wasn't truly a suggestion.

"Scout training is about learning skills without relying on techniques. We know you can fight, but you need to develop some fundamentals." Zhen considered this as they walked. Gaarch was right and, in this, he was of a mind with Shuo. Any techniques, not just the langren ones, but the Eye as well, could become a crutch if he wasn't careful.

"Understood." They emerged into the residential areas, then passed through to the military compound. Morning exercises were underway on a number of the fields. As they passed a group training Growl of the Crushing Maw the Eye showed Zhen multiple flaws in their techniques. After Hagra's insistence on perfection it irrationally annoyed him, but he resisted the temptation to stop and correct them. Gaarch led Zhen past them toward a smaller group running through an obstacle course.

Jatrix stood in the middle of the group, her brown and white dappled fur catching the ambient light. Her head snapped toward them as they approached, and her jaw went slack. Beside her, Mane-Guard Sill turned to see what she was looking at and then she also stared in disbelief. As they arrived, Gaarch accepted the troops' salute and then spoke to Sill.

"Mane-Guard Sill. The human now has all the techniques necessary to be a scout." Sill's ears flattened against her skull, though her expression remained neutral.

"Choose a squad of your best langren. You have two days to deliver him to the borders of the Veinwalkers' territory and train him in the basics of being a scout." Gaarch's eyes fixed on her.

"This takes priority over anything else you had planned."

"Understood, War Leader." Sill's voice was crisp. Gaarch turned to leave, then paused.

"Oh, and the human is named Tie Zhen." He strode away, his crimson armor disappearing through the compound gate. Sill watched him go, then called out five names.

"Scout Captain Jatrix. Stone-Arms Borin, Kames, Varth, and Nessra. Front and center." The named scouts moved to stand before her while the rest of the scouts held formation. Zhen recognized Jatrix, Kames, and Borin immediately. The scarred-eared langren's lip curled as he noticed Zhen, though he kept silent. Sill addressed the remaining scouts.

"The rest of you are on leave. Report back at dawn tomorrow."

"Dismissed." The other Stone-Arms whooped at the unexpected free time as they scattered across the training ground and disappeared toward the residential quarters. Zhen looked at the five langren Sill had named. Jatrix kept shooting him looks that mixed shock with a hint of respect. Most of the others seemed intrigued, their ears perked forward and eyes sharp with curiosity. The outlier was Borin, who stalked toward Sill, his scarred ears flat against his skull. The scowl on his face deepened with each step.

"Mane-Guard." His voice carried an edge that made Zhen wince.

"Why are we working when everyone else is getting time off?" Sill turned without speaking and fixed Borin with a stare. Borin's ears twitched. He held her gaze for a moment before his eyes dropped and his tail stilled. Sill stepped closer, her voice dropping low.

"If you ever talk to an officer like that again, Stone-Arm, you'll be in the pits before your paws hit the ground." Each of her words was enunciated crisply.

"Is that clear?" Borin snapped to attention, his spine rigid.

"Yes, Mane-Guard Sill!" Sill looked at him for another moment, then turned back to the group as if nothing had happened.

"You have an escort and protect mission. The task is to deliver the human to the Veinwalker border within two days. Scout Captain Jatrix, you'll lead the unit." The shift was immediate as they all turned serious. Zhen could see why they were the elites of the Duskmane army.

"All the way to the border?" Jatrix's voice was disbelieving.

"Yes, but not one claw over. We don't want to start a war." Sill's tone remained level.

"You travel fast, so light armor. Head to the Quartermaster and armory. Gear up with whatever you need. Also get Zhen kitted out as far as possible, though there won't be much sized for him." She glanced at the lightening sky visible through the cavern roof.

"Meet me in front of the barracks in one hour, ready to leave. Dismissed." She strode away toward the compound's offices. Borin rounded on Zhen, lips pulling back from his teeth.

"Stay out of my way, human. This is as dangerous as peace-time missions get. I don't want to see you unless I have to." Zhen met his eyes without flinching.

"No." Borin's ears shot forward. His mouth opened, then closed.

"What did you say?" Zhen was surprised at himself. His time in the Ordeal of the Ancestors had changed him more than he realized. He had spent countless cycles training with, then overcoming, the best that langren society had to offer. The thought of a mouthy langren grunt disrespecting him stuck in his craw.

"I'm not spending the next two days listening to you snipe at me." Zhen kept his voice level.

"Out there we need to trust each other. If you have a problem, we deal with it now." Borin stared at him. Slowly his scarred ears flattened, but this time something like hunger flickered in his amber eyes.

"Are you actually challenging me to Ring Brawl?" Zhen shrugged.

"If that's how langren solve their disagreements." Jatrix moved between them, her brown and white fur bristling.

"Borin, stand down. Don't…"

"I accept the challenge." Borin spoke over her, his voice rising to carry across the training ground.

"And by the right of challenger I choose war hammers." He thrust one paw toward Zhen. Jatrix grabbed Zhen's shoulder, pulling him back.

"Zhen. Stop. You don't have to do this. He's just…" Zhen stepped forward. Locking eyes with the Stone-Arm he clasped Borin's forearm. The langren's grip could have crushed stone, but Zhen endured it and stared up into Borin's eyes.

"Let's fight."