Gaiden 5.5
“Captain, secure the Fire Gates. Another scale of Huraka are trying to flank the main defenses at the Wood Gates.” The storm serpent pointed his dire lance at Lu Fei and his talon. “Quickly!”
“But sir, our place is at our Lord’s side. If his honor guard should fall...”
“If they make the walls, the wards are finished and the fortress is broken. Where will your father go then? Obey!”
“Sir!” Taking the Soul of Ice in one hand and the Heart of Frost in the other, Lu Fei stood before his command, half mortal soldiers and half sylphs, zephyrs, and cloud people. Like himself they wore the gray kimono with a black sash, and as he looked at them he could see in their eyes that they were ready to die. He lifted the daiklave above his head and shouted, in a voice hoarse with conviction, “Seraphim of the Bright Bastion, follow me!”
If I had known today would be my last day, what would I have done differently? He asked himself this question as he ran with the shining host to the Fire Gates. Quickly he ordered the guards, “Open the locks! We sally forth to meet them.”
The gates were half open and Lu Fei had strode into the clouds with his vanguard when they met the twenty huraka. His lieutenant, Jin Er the Eastern God of Horizontal Rain, shouted in his ear, “There’s so many, it has to be Green Frowning Bear.”
“He would never dare attack a celestial censer.” With that he threw himself into the breach and buried four feet of ice in the first great bear’s chest. The seraphim followed his example, hurling themselves into the jaws of the elementals with dogged disregard for their lives. Their numbers cut in half, the huraka fell back to regroup, stunned by the seraphim’s ferocity. Lu Fei lifted his sword and dagger in both hands and lead the survivors in a cheer when he heard noise from the wall.
“Captain, look! The Wood Gate has been overrun. Look!”
As Lu Fei turned he saw his home of twenty-four years, the place he was born in and the place he was destined to die in, Bright Bastion of the East. As the flames licked out the windows, the walls crumbling outside, he heard distantly the sound of trumpets and cries from within. “Fallen is our Lord! Long live Lufthorya, Lufthorya is dead!”
He watched in horror, barely noticing as the clouds beneath him turned insubstantial, and he and fifty other mortal soldiers began to fall.
Bones Like Jade dragged a carcass out of the Gray river and into the searing wind of the plains. When the breeze touched its face, the dead thing coughed and began moaning. The dragon took this circumspectly and decided that he had performed a good deed.
“You are lucky, little man. I thought to eat you, but I think you’re not ready.”
“I should be dead.” Lu Fei whispered without moving his head, staring blankly up at the sky.
“Probably. You are welcome. Now you owe me...”
“Put me back. Kill me now.”
The dragon pushed him into a sitting position, and he began coughing up more water. “You’re too young to be dead, and your spirit is too strong. Die now, you never know who you are.”
“I don’t care. From the moment I was born, my purpose was to die for my father, and I have failed this one task. I suppose it is only right; heaven has become corrupt, and the honorable must hide their virtue. It is fitting that I should be denied the good death.”
Bones Like Jade nodded his great head. “Yes. Ever since the usurpation, this has been the way of the world. Until now.” He helped the youth to his feet. “There are once more champions of justice. Follow me, and we will see if we can find your good death.”
A small gray cat struggled out of the water, shaking itself furiously, and ran up to Lu Fei’s side, licking its paws in agitation. He looked down at it with surprise and then sadness. “Jin Er, you are no longer my lieutenant. We must both take our demotions in stride and seek our own fortune.”
The cat rubbed against his leg once and looked up at him with unblinking eyes.
Bones Like Jade shrugged and picked up his pack. “All right then. We all ready?”
From outside in the hall, he heard Marta whispering, “He’s still the same. I’m glad you could come... he reminds me of someone else...”
“Don’t be stupid. Of course I’d do anything to help my big sister.”
The door opened. Lu Fei did not look up from where he sat with his lieutenant curled up on his lap. They seemed equally despondent. Yao Ye slid into the room and shut the door behind her, then took on her authoritative tone. “The Plum Blossom Retreat is well known for its gardens, baths, schools, and beautiful young ladies. Who is this who sits inside on such a summer afternoon?”
Lu Fei spoke softly. “You must be Yao Ye, the Daybringer that everyone talks about with dread. I see why now. Why have you come here?”
“For you, Lu Fei river-bobber.” She smiled as she stepped in front of him and crouched, facing him.
“I’m already dead in all but name. Leave me be.”
“I said the same thing when I first came here... well... I thought the same thing. I didn’t talk at all.”
“You’re joking with me.”
“No.” She smiled and said, “I know how you feel, kind of. Your family is dead, and your old life is gone forever. You’ve lived through a day that was worse than death, and now you can hardly bear to breath.”
Jin Er looked up at her with surprise. Lu Fei lifted his head slightly. “What do you do next? How do you keep breathing?”
“Well, at first I just wanted to find a way to die, but then something changed.” She cupped her chin in one hand and looked to the side. “I found someone that cared enough to keep me from dying, and I fell in love with him.”
“So that is the answer?”
“I don’t know. It was for a while, but I’ve started feeling that way again... sometimes. It’s been a month since I’ve seen him, and there have been these awful rumors. I guess I feel like, I don’t know, he’s always getting stronger and more powerful, but I always stay the same. He’s getting farther and farther away from me.”
She smiled and shook her head. “But I get to see him soon. My next mission is in Varsi, again, and I heard they’re all going to be there.”
“Perhaps then you’ll be able to breath again.”
“Maybe...” she looked out the window. “I don’t know, I’ve got this bad feeling about going down there... like when you’re about to step off a cliff.”
Lu Fei nodded his head. “Then don’t go. The time is not auspicious.”
“What? I’m just nervous about seeing him. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“It doesn’t?” He looked down at Jin Er. The cat gave him a quizzical look as well. “Oh.”
She wrinkled her nose and looked at him carefully. “The dragon said you acted funny... which is saying a lot. Hmm. We’ve spent all this time talking about me and my problems, and here I haven’t cheered you up yet at all. Do you want me to do a little dance or something? I do a mean harvest dance. Or I could tell you about how each of my teammates smells, which actually would probably just make you feel sick, but sometimes sick is better than terminally depressed, right?”
“I don’t see how you can stay so happy, if anything you’ve said is true.”
“This is the Marukan Alliance, ruled by the chosen of the Sun, the most free nation in creation. If there is any place a person can forget the past, it’s here.”
She turned to the door, then looked back at him. “I’ve got to be leaving. Well, actually, they told me I shouldn’t stay so long, because I might drive you a different kind of crazy.”
“I understand. You still have your duties to perform.”
“Well, yes.” She stopped behind and leaned over his shoulder. “Seriously, Lu Fei... don’t sell yourself too short.”
She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on his gray cheek, then quickly jumped back to leave.
“Wait, Yao Ye...” He lifted one arm and touched her sleeve.
“Yes?”
“You too.”
Serrakeen watched as Lu Fei rehearsed his form in the center of the practice mats, his hand whipping the snow white blade of his dagger about him. The ifrit leaned against the kwoon’s wall and twisted the tassels of his sash. He called out across mats, “So you’re that dragon’s friend, the man they pulled out of the river. I’ve heard of you, you’re Lu Fei, captain of the Seraphim of the Bright Bastion, son of Lufthorya...”
Lu Fei continued to practice his kata, the daring strikes and deadly slashes moving like a dance across the floor. “...and the previous captain. Yes. I’m glad to hear that my paternity remains a staple of celestial gossip.”
“Your sense of humor has returned.”
“Those jokes are as much a part of me as this dagger. They’re a second skin.”
“What happened to the sword?”
“Lost when I fell.” He winced slightly at the mention.
“You seem to have recovered from your injuries... perhaps you’ve given some thought to what you’ll do next?”
Lu Fei stopped in the center of the floor and took a deep breath. “I have.” He walked over to the side of the room where Jin Er waited. After pushing her off of his towel, he answered, “I’m nothing without a Lord to defend... but in the end, maybe even that isn’t enough. I know practically nothing about life outside the spirit courts; I can count the times I left Bright Bastion on one hand. I still want to serve... I know the level at which I stand between heaven and earth, but I need to find my place again.”
“We need men like you who are dedicated to justice and compassionate service.” Serrakeen approached him and placed a hand on the godblood’s shoulder. He gripped him firmly and looked him in the eyes. “You might be standing in your place already.”
