Chapter 1
Note to the reader: I've done my first read through and corrected many many many errors. It should be legible now. Small changes will be added later, but this should be good to go.
Contents
I'm just saying…[edit]
"…why didn't they mention it in the briefing? I bet they don't even know what would happen."
Zhou Wing put his hand over his pure white eyes. "Yao Ye, please..."
"Don't tell me you're not curious. Is it even possible to, you know, get it started in the first place? And what would the children look like... Don't you want to know?"
"No. Ye, I'm not curious, and you're definitely not ready for a serious relationship."
"What!"
The cart bumped down the road at a steady pace. Every jarring thump made the equipment and supplies in the back of the cart rattle together once more. Slowly they moved farther to the east, towards the elemental pole of wood. Zhou Wing was driving, and Yao Ye was sitting next to him to keep him awake, dressed in full gunzosha armor.
She began punctuating her words with thrusts of her finger. "As if I would ever, you pasty little..."
"Stop, stop! Please, don't wave those gauntlets around. Why are you wearing that, anyway? Do you know how expensive the maintenance is for that chunk of jade?"
"I'm in training! What's going to happen if we meet a behemoth or an immaculate devil and I don't know how to activate the Integrating... the... well... whatever this button here does?"
In the back of the wagon, seated on a stack of scripture, Selara muttered, "Toruna, why aren't we using your magic to get there? If I have to listen to another hour of those two then I'm going to be sick."
Wing turned over his shoulder and said, "What, those two? Wait..."
Toruna was seated on the back of the wagon with her feet tucked neatly beneath her in the lotus position. She did not answer Selara's question.
"Hey? I know you can hear me. By all the host of heaven!"
The various conversations on the cart were interrupted by a piercing scream. The five amalgams stopped and turned as one to the side of the road. A child, barely old enough to ride on her own, was standing in a field by the side of the road holding a rake in both hands. She stared at them, and they stared back. No one said a word.
Zhou Wing waved a pale hand. "Hello?"
The child silently dropped her rake and ran across the field. Away from them.
Shu Zhuang slid off the back of the wagon to the metaled road and dusted himself off. "Must be a town." He pulled his pack off the cart and started walking down the embankment.
Yao Ye leaped off the cart to the embankment, took another half jump in her powered armor and landed chest first in the mud. She spluttered as she leaped upright. "Ugh, pluh, yuck... you see this Wing! You see what I mean?" She desperately tried to scoop the mud out of her open visor, which was already seeping down her neck.
Toruna followed Zhuang across the field towards a cluster of small houses. Zhou Wing stood up on the bench. "Hey, is anyone going to help me get the cart down there?
No one stopped, or even turned around. Wing climbed into the back and began rummaging through their supplies. As he did so, he muttered to himself. "I'm not really sure that the Master thought this through…"
Five days earlier…[edit]
…at the Plum Blossom Retreat, the newly amalgamated team was preparing for its send off. They were the last team to be assigned, and had watched as their four predecessors each received their equipment for the task: two suits of gunzosha armor, two shockpikes, various other (nonmagical weapons), a folding servant, maintenance equipment for the artifacts, teaching supplies, a well-stocked medicine kit, and a week's worth of food. One cart. Two draft horses. Five matching brown robes.
The Lord and Master of the amalgams, Rivers Between Us, stepped up to the final team. In spite of himself, Zhou Wing could feel a wave of breathless anticipation, excitement, and affection whenever he turned to look at him. He knew it was just the magic; he'd been warned about it before the spell. At the time he hadn't cared. The solar exalted were awesome. Why shouldn't he follow their lead? Even so, this was a little more unnerving than he had expected. He looked to the other team members to see their reactions.
He had only met them five minutes earlier. He had seen them all before, to be sure; at the amalgamation ceremony he remembered seeing the green one (Selara?) step forward to be the first to offer her sword for the change. Looking at her polished silver iris, he assumed it was a safe bet that she had followed up on that plan. She looked respectfully at the wizard and bowed her head slightly as he approached, but definitely with a degree of restraint. He really should take a look at that eye…
Beside Selara was the girl Yao Ye. She had fire-red skin and burgundy hair… well, not really hair, more like swept back petals where hair might once have been. That was another obvious amalgamation. She was practically bouncing from foot to foot and glowing with excitement at the sight of Rivers, clasping her hands in front of her chest nervously. Wing was sure she must have been the youngest to be amalgamated; barely old enough to hold a spear and now she was hunting demons?
The short man beside her was Shu Zhuang, a tree stump of a man. He hardly seemed to react at all to his surroundings. In fact, Wing was almost certain that he was sleeping. It was hard to tell; his face was a craggy brown mass of wrinkles, like the bark of a great fir tree.
Last of all was the tall Toruna. He could tell that she wasn't Murakan; even after the change had lengthened her limbs and turned her hair into shards of obsidian it was easy to see the features of the deep south. With hands folded in front of her, she looked down with what could only be tolerant amusement at the boy-godling.
Rivers Between Us walked up and spoke, fumbling across his sentences as usual. "So. You're going East… and you should be pretty ok over there, except for maybe some beastmen and lunar exalted, which could pretty much tear you to pieces, or me for that matter, so, well, there's nothing to do about that. Yeah. Toruna is in charge. Report back once a month. Don't get killed."
Zhou Wing cocked his head to one side and said, "Wait, what are we supposed to do out there?"
Rivers looked surprised for a moment, then laughed and said, "Right, right. Good. You're to do Good. Okay?"
The five amalgams looked stunned for a moment. Rivers looked them over, nodded his head, then pointed to Toruna. "Can I speak to you for a second?"
He took the stony woman aside beneath a plum tree and talked while the rest waited. Wing found himself watching the sorcerer's hands, the way he moved, the way he acted… he forced himself with an act of will to look away. It was high summer in the manse; the sky was cornflower blue, and the air was as warm and thick as gruel, but the atmosphere had been frosty there over the last few days. Some thought it might be because of the incident at the Gatehouse, but he had only heard vague rumors of a skirmish between Lookshy rangers and one of the chosen. Rivers seemed particularly bothered by something. Zhou Wing wished that he would confide in him, just tell him what was wrong so that he could help in some way…
They had finished talking. The sorcerer waved to them and shouted, "I'll see you in a month! There's this… ah… person… business I have to… I'm needed elsewhere, on the double. Remember, do Good! You're our ambassadors! If you need any equipment, let me know, unless its a warstrider or skyship. We’re still short on those!"
With that, he took his warbird from a folding servant, collapsed the servant and tossed it in a saddle bag, and then took to the sky, shouting down to them, "And don't die! I'd feel really bad if I found out…"
And he was gone, carried by a great metal owl beyond the plum trees, out into the East.
Yao Ye suddenly snapped out of the spell that seemed to have overcome her. "Oh no, he's gone! And I just stood here like a dunce and never said a word!" With that, the girl sank to her knees and began wailing. Even Selara took a step after him, as though to say a parting word. Wing lifted his hand to his eyes to try to catch one last glimpse.
A dozen bleary villagers...[edit]
...watched as the squad approached. It was a small town; perhaps two dozen log longhouses in a rough circle around a green. A group of children were trying to hide behind each other on the corner of one of the buildings. An older man stepped out of one of the houses at a half jog with an ax in one hand, then stopped in the doorway. A couple of young women walked up to the town along a pathway, talking and laughing, then stopped in their tracks and stared. The only sounds were muted voices that seemed to be coming from a house on the opposite side of the open space.
Yao Ye was, of course, the first to step forward. She strode into the center of the clearing with a shock pike in one hand, struck a pose with one gauntleted hand on her hip, and began shouting.
“People of the Marukan Alliance! We are the Daybringers! We are her to Do Good, Be Awesome, and Annihilate thmph...”
Zhou Wing, having finally arrived with the wagon, tapped a depression on the side of the helm. The visor clamped shut. Unfortunately, it was currently covered with mud. The blinded girl began flailing about about desperately; a stray arm hit Wing in the gut and tossed him three yards through the air to land in a heap.
Selara watched for a moment, then leaped onto Ye’s back, throwing her into a headlock and trying to force her to the ground. The few villages near the green watched with curiosity, bemusement, and fear as the strange people struggled on their grass.
One of the young women went into a house and returned a moment later leading an elderly blind woman. The matron was muttering loudly in her ear, “Well, are they demons or are they fair folk? Make up your mind.”
Toruna quickly strode over to the pair of women. “Kind lady, I’m sorry for my traveling companion’s strange behavior; we are servants of the Sun’s Chosen, come to offer our services as healers and teachers.”
“Hmm? Is that one of them?”
“Yes, grandmother.”
“Ah.” The grandmother leaned forward and sniffed at Toruna’s robe. “Well, she’s all right, anyway. Demons and fae don’t wash with lemongrass. We don’t have anyone sick here, and we teach our own, but you’re welcome to rest here on your journey. Just try to keep a hold on your children.”
“You’re too generous.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. This isn’t exactly a restful place these days. You see...”
At that moment, the house that had, until then, been making a few, relatively small noises, emitted a piercing shriek. The door slammed open and a young women ran out, her face flushed and an expression of unfathomable rage on her face. She was quickly followed by a youth of similar age, walking slowly and shaking his head with apparent sorrow.
An older man with the look of a veteran appeared in the doorway and leaned out with saber in one hand. He shouted after them while brandishing his weapon. “Never! Never! Not even when I’m dead, you hear me boy?”
He turned back and slammed the door shut again.
Shu Zhuang in the meantime had walked slowly over to the children. From one of his pockets he pulled a fistful of sweet meats and began waving them at the children as he took a seat on a log section near the central firepit. As the children gathered around him with wide eyes, he began whispering to them. “You like sweets do you? Old Zhuang has lots of sweets for bright children, you know. Do any of you know what this letter I’m drawing on the ground here is? What sound does this make?”
Later that night...[edit]
...the five amalgams sat around their campfire by a hissing pot of stew, to the lee side of their cart, outside the village. Yao Ye spoke between mouthfuls as she took long gulps from her bowl. “You know, when the old lady said we could ‘rest’ here, I was hoping that she meant that we could, you know, sleep indoors for once. Not next to this sawmill again,” she said as she poked Shu Zhuang. He ignored her.
Zhou Wing watched her with a vague sense of horror and awe as she filled her bowl a sixth time. “Yes, I have trouble seeing why they had such reservations. Hmm. And where did you come up with that ridiculous name?”
“What? Oh, you liked that? You see, it’s like we’re bringing the light of the...”
“Yeah, it wasn’t much of a mystery, thanks.”
Yao Ye raised her eyebrows as though we would like to respond, but she was too busy at the moment scraping the bottom of her dish with her chopsticks.
Toruna began gathering the empty dishes. “Listen. We will stay here a few days while I talk to Grandmother Lee. Selara, Wing, and Ye, you will scout for any nearby villages or spies from the beastman tribes. Do not engage any enemies you meet. Remember, we are guests here.”
With that she picked up the bowls and walked into the darkness, down toward the creek.
Selara watched her leave and then rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm... why is it that she never speaks to us except to deliver an order? I don’t think she was at Breaking Iron. Two spells certainly can make a person vain...” Her forked tongue flicked out of her lips briefly as she spoke, and she clamped her lips shut.
Yao Ye looked at the dying fire and sighed. “Why is the stew pot always empty before I’m full? Ugh. I don’t want to go wandering off in the plains looking for trouble. Why couldn’t there be a demon right here, or better yet one of those bastard Mayhiros.” She flopped on her back and looked up at the stars. “I wish Rivers was here... he’s probably off having awesome adventures...” She lurched up into a sitting position. “In fact, I bet he needs me right now, right this very second. I should go find him... but what should I wear?”
Wing stood and began pacing by the fire. “That’s not what he told us to do, and you know it. We’re supposed to Do Good. Now I admit that exploring the horse plains isn’t going to do much good, but there has to be something we can do right here to help this town. We’re empowered by the sun! Surely we can find a way to help them, right? What about that fight we saw in the town... maybe we could start by helping these people work out their problems and bring peace back to this village! Let’s do it!”
He stood before the fire with both arms stretched out before him, a distant look in his eyes as though he was seeing some other village, far off in the distance, torn by war and strife, waiting for a savior. Selara looked past him to where a child (the same girl that had first announced their arrival so indecorously) was peering through the grass at them.
“You’ve had your eyeful, now scram!” She hissed.
The child ran off, and in the ensuing silence the only sound that could be heard was the faint susurration of Zhuang snoring.
Zhou Wing stalked...[edit]
...his quarry with singular concentration, following at a distance so as to avoid notice until the moment of his strike. He ducked low beneath the heads of grain as he crept along, standing infrequently, and then only for a split second so that he could get his bearings and continue his stealthy approach. Indeed, so great was his effort that he had nearly reached his prey when he noticed that the mat of grass and sod beneath him gave way to a river. With a terrific splash he landed in the three foot deep channel, and was forced to suffer the ignominy of being fished out by the object of his pursuit.
“You should really be careful, stranger. The creek is pretty fast here... I guess sometimes it just sneaks up on you like that.”
Wing spluttered as he clung to the youth’s staff and used it to steady himself as he regained his feet. “Thank you... I was actually hoping to meet you out here, where we could talk.”
“Oh, well... I don’t know much about the ways of ghosts and devils like yourselves, but if you can help me gather flax, I’d be thankful. I’m Ping, the tailor.”
“Ah. I am Zhou Wing, the surgeon. I saw you yesterday actually,” Wing said as he removed his soaking robe and began to wring it out. “You seemed to be having a bit of trouble with that gentleman in the town.”
Ping sighed. He was a short young man, probably not much older than twenty, with a narrow face and a pinched brow. “Yes, Sun Chee is his name, and he is the father of my fiancee, Sun Lian. Only now I suppose he says that I cannot marry her, because I don’t know how to ride.”
“That’s strange... but it should be easy enough to learn to ride, shouldn’t it?”
“That it would, I suppose, if I had a horse. I am a poor tailor. What can I do? If he says she cannot marry, then she could choose of her own will to defy him, but then she would have no dowry, and...”
“...and you cannot afford to take care of her without a dowry. I see.” He put on the robe once more, which was now hopelessly wrinkled and still quite wet. The two young men sat by the stream with their heads down, lost in thought.
“I want her to be happy... to have nice things, like a horse of her own, a red dress and house with a lamp and big bed, a table and chairs. I could never earn enough to buy all that, and I’ve no talent for making furniture. Festival clothes, those I love to make; I’m excellent at sewing and mending, but there’s only so much call for that in a village this small.”
Wing nodded his head, then suddenly snapped his pale fingers. “I know what you could do... you don’t need the dowry after all. You could move to God Crossing with her! There is a terrific need for men of industry there, and free housing with lighting and even sewage systems. It will be a great city soon, especially with men like you in it.”
“Hmm...” Ping stood and tossed a rock in the creek. “You know, I would like to have a wider audience for my wares... and then I could afford to keep her home all day in comfort. Best of all, I would never have to hear Sun Chee mock me again in front of her... this is a good plan!”
“Then let us do it! Quickly, let’s tell Sun Chee and his daughter. You could be on your way before noon today.”
“Yes, I like this idea!” The two youths began striding back to town with their fists clenched at their sides and a defiant mien.
Meanwhile, Yao Ye was enacting her own plan. She found Sun Lian easily enough, herding her father’s horses as they grazed. Ye shouted to her from across the clearing, “Hey you! I am Yao Ye, and I am her to help you!”
Lian rode over to the girl on a spirited roan stallion, looking down at her with curiosity. “How can you help me, little fire sprite? Will you beat some sense into my father?”
“I could do that, but I’d probably get yelled at. Why don’t you tell me what all that shouting was about yesterday.”
The young woman dismounted. She was tall, with long auburn hair, and she wore tall boots that came above her knees. “It’s no secret. My fiancee, Ping, cannot marry me because my father will not hear of me marrying a man that cannot ride. He is insufferable. He thinks he can keep me at home forever!”
“Hmm, that shouldn’t be a problem. You are Marukan; why don’t you marry him anyway?”
“Ping will not agree to it unless my father allows it; he says it would be unfilial to ignore his wishes.”
“Bah!” Ye put her hands on her hips and threw out her chest. “Unfilial? This Ping doesn’t sound like much. If he loves you, why doesn’t he marry you? He can’t even ride?”
“He is sweet to me... I thought that if I was at his side, he would learn confidence.”
“If he cannot stand on his own, he isn’t ready for you, believe me.” Ye closed her eyes and nodded her head sagaciously.
“But if I don’t marry him, what can I do? I can’t stand another year in my father’s house... all my friends are already married. Shall I be subject to such an overbearing father forever.”
“Hmm...” Ye rubbed her chin as though in deep thought. “That is true to.” She looked at Lian through slit eyes. “You seem to know how to ride well enough. Can you shoot a bow, swing a sword?”
“Of course!” She drew herself up proudly in her saddle. “I am Marukan!”
“Perfect! Rivers Betwee... no no...” She looked at Sun Lian suspiciously. “The solars have returned to guide us, as you doubtless already know, and they need brave warriors like yourself. You should join the army! You can be free of your father and meet no end of men who know how behave valorously both on and off the battlefield.”
“You know... that would show these fools a thing or two. I don’t have to wait for such petty bickering. I’ll give myself up to death and glory!”
“Yes, death! Come, let’s go tell them now.”
Sun Lian began riding back to town at a gallop, while Yao Ye struggled after her as fast as her short legs could carry her.
At that moment, in town, Selara was talking with Sun Chee.
“You see,” he said, “I could care less if he knows how to ride. My daughter can outride any man in a hundred miles. She has no equal! But Ping is a poor man, and I have many horses. Why has he wooed Sun Lian, when she is so far above him? He must be after my wealth, and is hoping for a big dowry. I cannot let my daughter marry such a man who only sees silver in her eyes, can I?”
Selara turned her own silver eye away in embarrassment. “Yes, quite. But there must be a solution... why not a test? Offer to let them marry, but excuse yourself from paying a large dowry... you have no sons, so who will take care of you when you are old, after all? If Ping refuses to marry her when you offer a single horse, then you will know if it is love or money that he seeks.”
Sun Chee pounded his fist on the table, rattling the (slightly rusted) saber that lay naked on the boards. “This is a good plan. Thank you, beastwoman. Let us tell them now so that I can finally have this worry off my chest!”
The three combatants converged...[edit]
...as Sun Chee stepped out of his house with Selara. Zhou Wing and Ping came in from the fields with their faces set like stone, while Sun Lian rode in from the north with Yao Ye at her heels. The whole town, some fifty in all, emptied out of the houses and came in from their fields to watch. Even the children reciting hymns to the solar conquerors at Shu Zhuang’s direction broke ranks and crept up to watch the battle.
Sun Chee spoke first. “Ping, I have changed my mind. You may marry my daughter, but let me tell you that I can offer you only one horse. I have no sons, as you know, so I must consider my old age. Who will take care of me? I can give you nothing more than the horse she is riding!”
Ping spat (as the villagers hissed with alarm) and shouted back, “You can keep your nag. I will marry Lian, and we will move far away from here where we’ll never be bothered by such stingy old relatives. I will be appreciated in distant cities where talent like mine is prized!”
Sun Lian laughed imperiously. “Bah! I will not marry any man who can neither stand up to my father nor earn his trust, and I will not live under the roof of a tyrant! I will join the cavalry and die a maiden, forever untouched by petty men!”
Then the shouting truly began, as various villagers began encouraging them to greater fits of passion. Soon Sun Chee was pushing at Ping, Ping was pulling at Sun Lian, and Lian was swatting them both with her hands. All the while they continued shouting and yelling as the children jumped and clapped their hands with glee at the entertainment.
At that moment, Grandmother Lee and Toruna stepped out her longhouse. Grandmother surveyed the scene for a moment, casting her blind eyes about, nodded to Toruna, then shouted, “Be silent, you empty-headed ninnies!”
The town was instantly silent. They all looked somewhat sheepishly up at her from their various activities of civil unrest.
Grandmother Lee strode across the green to the three combatants. “What is this I hear? What foolishness. Sun Chee, you are a wealthy man, and you will only become richer. Why do you begrudge a fitting dowry for your daughter? Do you love her so little? Ping, how dare you refuse his generosity and turn your back on the town that raised you as an orphan. Who will mend our clothes and stitch our saddles? There is none as skilled as you in three days ride from here! And you Lian, why have you entertained such unfilial thoughts? Your father has accepted your choice, but now you refuse him? Are you so fickle as to lead Ping on like this, when he has wooed you for five years?”
The three hung their heads in shame before her.
“You could not have thought up such devilment on your own. Who has filled your heads with such terrible ideas? Shame on them as well!”
Zhou Wing bowed his head, while Selara knelt in obeisance to the village elder. Yao Ye, farther back, began to try to sink noiselessly and discreetly into the grass and disappear entirely.
Chee coughed to clear his throat. “Ping, I have wronged you, and I see now that you do love my daughter. Before the winter comes, I will build a house for you and prepare it with the finest furnishings, and you shall have two horses... and another in a year for your firstborn child!”
Ping bowed his head before the gray-bearded man. “You honor me with your trust and generosity. I am sorry that I entertained such unfilial thoughts as to deprive you of your daughter, your comfort in your old age. I will stay and be as a son to you, so that no one may say that I have robbed you of your family.”
Sun Lian grinned enthusiastically. “Now I see that it was not cowardice that made you meek before my father, but respect. Ping, I hope that after we are wed, I can learn to be as strong as you; strong enough to humble myself as you have for me.”
Grandmother Lee turned away from them and put a hand on Toruna’s shoulder. She whispered in a voice that only the sorceress could hear, “Thank you for your help. They would have fumed like that for weeks, always straining but never breaking, if you hadn’t come. Their pride has been broken. We can have peace here again.”
“If we have helped in any way, I am certain it is only by the grace provided us by the Sun and His servants.”
“That may be. You’re welcome to stay in my house until you leave, and we’ll be sure that when you go you have more than enough to make it to the next town.”
“We will strive to earn this immense gift.”
The three downcast amalgams, hearing nothing of this exchange, saw only Toruna turning from the grandmother to give each of them a calculating stare. She said nothing, but the point was well taken.
At the feast...[edit]
...that night, the engagement of Ping and Lian was celebrated with homemade beer, roasted boar, song, and music. While the village laughed and danced together, the five amalgams sat at the edge of the crowd. Selara, Ye, and Wing were resting their feet, which were quite sore after tromping through the countryside all day, scouring for beastman spies and nearby villages.
Zhou Wing leaned on one arm and said to his fellows, “Well, that could have gone a lot better, but I suppose it ended well.”
Selara nodded, but watched Toruna carefully. “I’m beginning to think that perhaps Rivers isn’t quite as careless as I had thought...”
Shu Zhuang nodded impassively, watching the bonfire through lidded eyes.
Yao Ye was content, for once, not to comment. She held a hen in each hand and her ruddy cheeks were greasy with bird fat.
Sun Lian approached with a crown of daisies on her brow. She was glowing with excitement and exertion from the dance. “Thank you all for joining us today, and for trying to help. You should come back next summer to see our firstborn.”
Yao Ye smiled. “Mmmm... I love babies. We’ll be here, for certain.”
A look of sadness darkened Lian’s face, “Yes, it must be hard on you then, knowing the sacrifice that you have made.”
“What? What sacrifice?”
A half smile began to sneak across Wing’s face. “Yes, well, it wasn’t much of a sacrifice for her. There really wasn’t much of a chance of her... well...”
Ye blinked her eyes rapidly, fighting back tears. “You really think I’ll never be able... wait a minute!” Her cheeks darkened to the color of her petalled hair. “Zhou Wing! Tonight, you die!”
Turning in rage she began clubbing him with the chicken in her right hand, scattering bits of skin and bone across the grass with each blow. The dance stopped as the villagers watched in amazement at the glory, the wonder, and the absolute weirdness of... the Daybringers.
