Chapter 29 (Ling?gu)

  The silence was deafening.

  In favor of their own safety it seemed that every living creature in the area either fled or went into hiding when the Titan descended. I sat there stunned as a flash of the obsidian creature landing flickered through my mind. Blinking hard did nothing to erase the scene from my memories, but did help me refocus.

  I looked down at Wuying. Her chest rose and fell gently but I could see the convex of her broken ribcage through her chest. A deep gash stretched across her forehead. Tired as I was, I tried to help her. I tried to drag her over to a more comfortable position. Her body was nothing but dead weight. I drew on my core for the power I needed to drag her beneath the protective roots of a large tree.

  Its bark was nearly seamless and smooth except for the spiraling lines etched into it. It reminded me of a screw, like it was being twisted up out of the earth itself. Or I suppose, Vestra, as the world is called here.

  It was a more comfortable spot, although it gave me a better view of the ruins of our already patchwork camp.

  Ruslan, Zamir, Milos, Sorina. Not even in my old life had I seen so many people die in front of me. As I walked across the camp collecting supplies, I could see—as if for the first time—each one of them losing their lives again and again. It got to the point where I didn't even feel bad for their lost lives anymore. I was just tired of replaying the scene. In replaying the moment, I'd stripped away the weight of what happened. Reduced it to a clip disconnected from what I lived. I realized too I'd started making a habit of coping with my problems this way. It made me scared to realize, but at the same time I felt it was better than the alternative. At least this way I could rest in peace.

  I took Milos's Cell so I could protect us, and I collected what was left of the crystals. Using some of the screw tree branches I made a campfire before settling back in with Wuying beneath the screw tree. My creative naming schemes strike again.

  ---

  I woke up to something tussling through my hair. I sat up quickly, grabbing at whatever it was.

  "Ahh Kaliah that hurts!" Wuying winced in pain. She spoke in Yugenese, and I followed suit.

  I let go as my mind caught up with what was going on. "Oh I'm sorry, you're awake!" As she reclaimed her arm Wuying massaged her chest and took a few deep breaths to shoulder the pain.

  "Yeah, what happened while I was out? How are the others?" She asked, trying to sit up now. I went to stop her but she surprisingly struggled less than I expected considering how broken her ribs were. But more concerning was the fact that she didn't seem to remember…

  "Wuying… they're all dead." She sat back down and took a few more deep labored breaths. I shifted back over to her and rubbed her back as she tried to breathe, groaning through her pain. I looked her in the face and she looked more angry than anything. I saw too that the gash in her head had already healed. I suppose her ribs had healed much the same.

  "What happened? Why can't I remember?" She asked, her face contorting with frustration as she tried to revive the memories.

  "The Titan—it hit you pretty hard. I thought you were dead too."

  Wuying's eyes fell and she squinted as she thought hard. "Yeah I remember but… then it was. It was over us. You and me… Why didn't it kill us?"

  "I… I don't know," I stammered, trying to think of how to explain. "It… it thought I, I said that I… I was its kin?"

  "What?" Wuying looked up to me, searching my eyes for truth. I couldn't hold her gaze because in it I could feel hurt and blame, and guilt.

  "I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

  "Kaliah what…" Wuying let out a string of pained coughs before regaining her composure. Her ribs must've healed wrong, much like when my arm was broken.

  "The crystal—it was like its egg or something. I absorbed it and now it's in my core. The Titan—it came for me. It wanted back what I took and now they're all dead because of me. And I didn't mean to get them killed. If you had never saved me, if you had let me die and listened to Milos, you'd all be fine."

  My eyes dropped into my dirt-covered hands and I felt Wuying wrap her arms around me.

  "It's okay child."

  "I'M NOT A CHILD." I protested, but it was a ridiculous protest. I was in the body of a 7-year-old and because of how small I was you could hardly even tell that.

  "It's okay Kaliah. It's not your fault…"

  The two of us sat like that for quite some time before Wuying spoke up.

  "So you have a Titan inside of your core now?" she asked tentatively.

  "I guess so… I don't really get it right now…"

  "That would make your spirit an Onyx Jewel Spirit." She said with a friendly smile.

  I looked up to her and chuckled. "Yeah okay."

  "You've gotta give it a name." I sat quietly as I started trying to think, but I wasn't able to focus either. Just too much had happened. "It doesn't have to be now but just know that the Titanic spirit is considered very special… Wow I'm starting to sound like…"

  An awkward silence followed before I felt Wuying starting to adjust.

  "Come on kiddo. Let's get out of here." I got up and ended up helping shoulder Wuying's weight so that she could actually walk, and the two of us headed out of the valley once and for all.

  We both split some crystals between us, leaving the blues and just taking the purples to help curb the weight, and we also took a couple of personal items from each of the others to bring them back for their families, as Wuying told me was the custom. It was tradition, she explained as we walked—to return something personal to the family of the fallen. A blade. A pendant. Proof that they'd died with honor, even if far from home. She also explained that the guild required it too to show proof of death.

  ---

  With Wuying being hurt it was difficult to travel through the wildlands. We got attacked by a couple of creatures on our way but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Milos's Cell felt awkward in my hands at first. Its design was a bit different from the Eastern style Yashir had taught me to use. Yet, at the end of the day, all Cells work pretty much the same. Wuying helped out where she could, giving me tips on my form in areas I thought I'd already perfected.

  Wuying was taking us back specifically to Ling?Gu—the Yugenese entrance to the valley. She told me about it as we walked, whenever the pain in her ribs allowed her to speak. Ling?Gu was one of the twelve domains of the Yugen Dynasty, she said. Each domain was ruled by a Great House, and each Great House owed allegiance to the Emperor in Wiy?Xot, the capital.

  "You'll stand out a little but not too much," Wuying warned me one evening as we made camp. "Because of your skin people will probably think you're Mahloan."

  "Weren't Sorina and Milos Mahloan?" I asked.

  "Yeah why?"

  "We look nothing alike!" I said, shocked that I could be confused for one.

  "Yeah well you have to think, we don't ever see Zeffans, let alone Osmirans out here. When we see warm brown skin tones we just go with what we know is closest." Wuying said in a way that asked if it made sense.

  "I see…" I said with a little incredulous giggle.

  She paused, wincing as she adjusted her position. "But you're with me. That'll help. We value conformity. Discipline. Everyone has a role. Everyone serves."

  As we grew closer to Ling?Gu, we started to see groups of people coming and going into Pleasant Valley. Hunters, soldiers, and adventurers hoping to train or strike it rich. One Mahloan family of hunters—a father and his two sons with a cart full of fresh pelts—shared their food with us and gave me some better fitting clothes from what they had. A simple tunic and trousers, dyed in muted greens and browns. Practical. Forgettable.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Where are you headed?" the father asked in accented Yugenese.

  "Home," Wuying said simply.

  He nodded and didn't ask more. Privacy was respected, she'd told me. Competence was valued above curiosity.

  Two weeks after our encounter with the Titan we finally reached Ling?Gu, and it was far beyond what I'd ever expected to see.

  ---

  We heard it before we saw it.

  The rush of water—not the gentle babble of a stream but the deep, constant roar of a river that had been running for thousands of years. The sound grew louder as we walked, filling the air until I could feel it in my chest. Then the trees parted and there it was.

  The Ling?Gu River.

  It was massive. Wider than any river I'd seen in my old life, cutting through the landscape like a wound. The water was dark—almost black in the deeper sections—but caught the light in flashes of silver and jade where it churned over rocks and debris. The current looked strong enough to pull a person under and never give them back.

  And spanning it was the dam.

  The structure was massive. Dark stone carved with jade and gold inlay, rising from the riverbed like it had grown there naturally. The architecture reminded me of Eastern temples from my old world—sweeping curved roofs, Jewl motifs spiraling up columns—but mixed with something else. Stepped pyramids. Layered platforms. Geometric precision that felt almost Aztec, blended with the ornamental flourishes of Thai or Cambodian temples. Colors dominated: jade greens, deep turquoise, vermilion reds, gold accents that caught the light and seemed to glow.

  “Are Jewl pretty common?" I ask Wuying pointing up at the intricate design.

  “No… and that's what makes them special." she chuckles. “Again… to think you have one in your core is…” She shook her head as she couldn't think of the word. But I can imagine incredible would've worked just fine. With the little bit I'd seen, they seemed to regard Jewls like the dragons of this world. So, I got it now, the idea I had one grMy core-once a vibrant, high yellow-was draining. It was sinking toward low yellow, and my medium core was slipping back toward orange.owing inside me was definitely incredible.

  The dam controlled the flow of water, channeling it through carved gates that opened and closed with mechanisms I couldn't see. On either side of it, bridges stretched across the river—arched and graceful, with railings carved to look like flowing water. People crossed them constantly, on foot and with carts, moving between the two halves of the city.

  Guards stood at the entrance in crimson and black uniforms, fitted jackets over wide-legged trousers. Jade ornaments hung from their belts—tokens of rank, Wuying later explained. They watched us approach, their eyes lingering on me with professional curiosity.

  Wuying showed her guild card and they waved us through without a word.

  The city beyond made my breath catch.

  Buildings rose in tiers, each level smaller than the one below, creating this stepped effect that made the whole city look like it was climbing toward the sky. Colorful banners hung from every eave, snapping in the wind. The streets were paved with smooth stone etched with geometric patterns that seemed to shift when I wasn't looking directly at them. Incense burners sat at regular intervals, filling the air with smoke that smelled like sandalwood and something sharper I couldn't place.

  People moved with purpose. No one loittered. No one begged. Everyone seemed to have somewhere to be, something to do. It felt... organized. Efficient. Almost oppressive in how orderly it was.

  And I hardly stood out.

  Mahloans were just as common here as Yugenese. My skin seemed to fall between that of the Mahloans and that of the Yugenese, making me almost look like I was mixed more than anything else. The key part that would give me away is if anyone actually focused on my facial features, but everyone was too busy to pay me that much attention. Some people stared as we passed—curious, maybe suspicious—but most just went about their business.

  Even still I kept my head down and stayed close to Wuying. She kept one hand on my shoulder the whole time we walked, a silent claim: *she's with me*.

  The river was everywhere. We crossed it three times just getting to the guild hall, each bridge offering a different view of the water rushing below. Ferries moved back and forth, packed with people and cargo. The sound of the river was a constant backdrop—sometimes loud, sometimes just a low hum depending on how close we were.

  We passed markets claiming to sell spirit-infused trinkets to boost cultivation efforts and good luck charms, weapons that glowed faintly with Arc, and fish so fresh they were still twitching. We passed training grounds where teenagers practiced with bladed Cells under the watchful eyes of stern instructors. We passed a temple—or what I assumed was a temple—where people sat cross-legged in silent meditation.

  "Wiyo," Wuying murmured when she saw me staring. "Literally means 'Spirit Growing', but foreigners call it Cultivationism. It's what I was teaching you about in the Valley."

  "They look so… focused?"

  "To let your spirit stagnate is to dishonor your family, your House, your Emperor."

  "Do you believe that?" I asked.

  "I do." She did not hesitate. "I believe that it's our responsibility to have a good relationship with our Spirits and ultimately that has nothing to do with our family. But if you have a poor relationship with your spirit it might go to show what kind of person your parents raised. I think that's the thought behind how people treat it. I don't know. But I've seen what happens to people who stop trying. They really are rotten from the inside out."

  The Guild Hall was near the city center—a massive structure that dwarfed the buildings around it. Inside, the main floor was chaos. Adventurers and merchants everywhere, conducting business at various counters, shouting over each other in half a dozen languages I didn't understand. The air smelled like sweat and ink and something metallic I couldn't place.

  Wuying approached the reception desk. She pulled out her contract papers and her posture shifted. Professional. Almost soldier-like. The grieving woman from the forest disappeared behind a mask.

  "Tian Wuying, reporting completion of assignment," she said in formal Yugenese.

  The clerk—a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes and silver-streaked hair pulled into an elaborate bun—took the papers and started reviewing them. Her robes were embroidered with symbols I didn't recognize, but they looked official. Important.

  "Escort and protection detail for Dr. Ruslan Sharpov's expedition to Pleasant Valley," she read aloud. Then her eyes lifted to Wuying. "Where is the client?"

  "Dead," Wuying said flatly. "Along with the rest of the expedition team. Titan attack."

  The clerk's expression shifted. Sympathy, but practiced. Like she'd done this before. Like she'd heard this story a hundred times. "I'm sorry for your loss. Did you recover any materials or evidence?"

  Wuying produced a handful of crystals from her pack. Enough to prove we'd reached the crystal grove. Not so many that anyone would ask too many questions about what else we might be carrying.

  The clerk examined them, made some notes with a brush on some paper, and handed back Wuying's papers. "The contract is marked as failed due to client death. No payment will be issued, but no penalties will be assessed given the circumstances. Your guild standing remains intact."

  "Understood."

  The clerk's eyes shifted to me. Something else I couldn't read. "And the child?"

  "Survivor from the valley," Wuying said smoothly. "I'm taking responsibility for her care."

  The clerk's eyebrows raised slightly—just a flicker of surprise—but she nodded and made another note. "Very well. Welcome back, Ms. Tian. May your spirit grow."

  "May your spirit grow," Wuying echoed.

  ---

  Wuying's apartment was small. One main room that served as both living space and kitchen. A bedroom off to one side. A washroom with an actual bath—an actual *bath*. It was on the third floor of a building that looked like it had been carved from a single piece of turquoise-veined stone, and climbing the stairs left Wuying winded and pale, but she didn't complain.

  "Make yourself at home," she said, easing herself onto a cushioned mat near a low table. "The bath is through there if you want to clean up."

  I nodded but didn't move. I was still processing. A roof over my head. Walls. A door that locked. *Safety*.

  The concept felt foreign.

  I stood there in the doorway, my hands still gripping the strap of the pack Wuying had given me to carry, and I realized I didn't know what to do. In the forest, every moment was survival. Eat, sleep, hide, fight, run. Here… here I could just *be*. And I had no idea how.

  "Kaliah?" Wuying's voice was soft. Concerned.

  "I'm fine," I lied. "I'll… I'll go wash."

  The bath was a luxury I didn't know existed. Hot water—*hot water*—filled a stone tub carved into the floor. I scrubbed weeks of dirt and blood and terror from my skin until the water turned grey, then drained it and filled it again just to sit in clean warmth. I cried. I didn't know why. Maybe because I was finally safe enough to.

  After I washed and dressed in one of Wuying's spare tunics—far too big for me, hanging off my shoulders like a tent—I found a spot in the corner of the main room. A cushioned mat near the window where I could see the street below. I sat down, pulled my knees to my chest, and just… sat.

  For the first time in weeks, I had nothing to do. No one to run from. No creature trying to kill me. Just silence and safety and the strange emptiness that came with it.

  Then I felt it.

  A pull. Deep in my core. Like something was drawing on my energy, siphoning it away slowly but steadily.

  I focused inward, checking my cores. My core-once a vibrant, high yellow-was draining. It was sinking toward low yellow, and my medium core was slipping back toward orange. too, sliding back toward orange.

  I stared at it, confused. Frustrated. Of course. Of *course* the Titan embryo was feeding off me. What else would it do?

  "Of course…" I muttered to myself. How was I supposed to deal with this? If it kept draining me, I'd be back to where I started. Weaker. Vulnerable.

  Then I remembered the crystals.

  I pulled one from my pack—one of the smaller purple ones we'd collected. I held it in my hand and focused, drawing on it the way I'd drawn on the Titan egg. Slowly. Carefully. Just a little at a time.

  The energy flowed into me, warm and soothing, filling the gap the embryo had created. It was just enough to stop the drain. I checked the crystal with my energy vision and could see that it was still like 95% full.

  I laughed. Actually laughed. Now that I was safe, sitting in a warm apartment with a locked door, the whole situation felt ridiculous. I'd absorbed a Titan egg. A *Titan egg*. And now it was living in my core, slowly eating away at my energy like some kind of parasite.

  All I could wonder was “how in the world am I going to manage this.”

  ---

  The next few days passed in a blur. Wuying rested and recovered. Her injuries healed slowly with the help of medicinal teas that smelled terrible and probably tasted worse. She had status as a Blue Spirit Adventurer, making it easy enough to justify the expense of seeing a doctor and really she had no choice. Using what she had she saw a doctor who reset her ribs. She was miserable, it was like she had to restart the healing process all over again. But at least this way the ribs could heal properly.

  I tried to make myself useful. Cleaning. Cooking simple meals with the supplies Wuying had—something that looked and tasted like rice, vegetables, dried fish. Staying out of the way. Learning the rhythms of this new life.

  On the third day, Wuying took me to the market. We sold most of the crystals we'd collected—kept only a few of the most valuable ones tucked away in a hidden compartment in her apartment. The merchant who bought them was a thin man with calculating eyes. He brought out his charge card and Wuying did the same, holding them to each other as the amps were exchanged.

  Suddenly we had plenty of money. Enough to live comfortably for months. Maybe the year if we were careful.

  Wuying bought me proper clothes. Yugenese-style robes in muted colors—deep grey, moss green, charcoal blue—that helped me blend in better. Shoes that actually fit. A proper bedroll for the apartment. She also bought me a hair pin, simple but well-made, carved from dark wood.

  "Here," she said as she fastened it into my hair, "presentation matters. Not for vanity. For respect. You show respect to yourself, to your family, to your House. Even if you have no House yet."

  "I used to hate getting my hair done." I groaned quietly.

  She hesitated. "I never really did ask where you were from..."

  I was annoyed with myself, I'd made it so long with revealing anything about my background. I guess it was only a matter of time before she became curious anyways. “I told you I'm from Osmira."

  her face shifted to annoyance. " No, you spoke Osmiran, and you spoke Zeffan, but you didn't actually say where you were from… and how do you know so many languages?"

  “You’re asking a lot of questions…” I say sharply. I felt a cold tinge in my chest, I felt bad for saying it but I felt worse having to think about where I came from. I think Wuying understood that from the look on my face. And finished adjusting the hair pin.

  "I'm sorry for prying… You're a beautiful girl.” She complimented as I turned to a small poorly made mirror and inspected her work, it really was a nice hair ornament. And I… I looked so different… Older, fragile, and angry. I fixed my face and replaced it with a smile.

  “Sorry… Thanks Wuying.”

  On the fourth day, Wuying stayed behind, giving me her card while I went to the market. She still wasn't ready for long walks, and we needed more of that rice-like grain. The vendor was a few blocks away and I'd been there twice already, so I knew the route. I was getting better at navigating the city—learning which streets to avoid, which vendors gave fair prices, how to bow just enough to show respect without looking weak.

  “I want the uh…” I pointed at the rice like grain searching for the name of it. Instead of long grains like real rice, the grains had a round spherical shape, almost like quinoa.

  “The Ogi?" The Lady at the stand asked, with a bit of a chuckle.

  "Ahh yeah… The Ogi.” I said shifting annoyed because of how dumb I must've looked.

  “I can do a pound for 15 Amps.” The woman was a snake, 15 amps for rice was nothing short of robbery.

  "I'm sorry Tata. My mom told me I can only spend 2.”

  The Lady groaned, probably didn't like being called ‘Tata’ as it's used to refer to old women. like grandmotherly women. As she scooped out my ogi and weighed it. I bought the grain and felt rather victorious. It felt almost normal carrying the bag back through the stepped streets, past the incense burners and the tiered buildings that seemed to watch me with jade-inlaid eyes.

  I pushed open the apartment door, calling out "I got the Ogi! That lady tried to—"

  I froze.

  Someone was sitting at our table.

  A man. His back to me. But I recognized the posture. The way he held his tea cup with two hands, elbows resting on the table. The familiar shape of his shoulders, broad but relaxed.

  He turned.

  My heart stopped.

  "Hello, Kaliah," Yashir said. His voice was calm. Even. Like we were simply picking up a conversation from yesterday instead of meeting again after he'd abandoned me in a death valley.

  His dark eyes met mine. Unreadable as ever.

  I stood in the doorway. The bag slipped from my hands and hit the floor with a dull thud, grains scattering across the stone. I couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Couldn't process the impossibility of his presence.

  Behind me, I heard Wuying emerge from the bedroom. Her footsteps stopped short.

  "Who are you?" she demanded. Her hand was already reaching for her Cell.

  But I couldn't answer. Couldn't explain.

  All I could do was stare at the man who had trained me. Who had bought me. Who had left me to die.

  The man who had, somehow, found me again.

  To Be Continued...