Cultivating Chaos 2

by William D. Arand

“You don’t have to accept it. You don’t have to say anything, but none of it would matter. Because I give myself with no limits. None. I’m yours, Ashley Sheng. I hold nothing back. It’s all yours,” said the woman with an almost frantic edge to her words. “I’m yours.”

  Standing there, boldly disregarding everything around her, the woman had made her intentions clear and done what she’d set out to do.

  He could feel the shaking and rumbling of a new statue being built.

  “I pledge—“

  “I’m all yours—”

  “I leave nothing of myself—”

  The chorus of the other women who’d circled around Na was loud in Ash’s ears.

  “Oh, good. We do need more of that. Lots more.”

  We… we do?

  Locke said nothing.

  Twenty-Two

  The women were finally escorted away. They allowed Na to take them off only after they’d pledged themselves completely to Ash.

  “That was… unexpected,” Mei said almost under her breath. “Very… unexpected.”

  Jia nodded her head at those words, then slowly shook her head as well.

  “Fortunate we met him when we did,” she said softly, turning to meet Mei’s eyes.

  Something passed between the two women at that moment that Ash couldn’t really understand. Both women turned back to him and said nothing more.

  After longer than he wished it to take, Chunhua finally returned.

  It was only at that point that Tala moved her arm. Her fingers released their hold over his head and Ash was free to actually move.

  He’d only tried once to pull away from Tala. There’d been no give in her arm whatsoever, preventing him from even twitching.

  She’d apparently decided he wasn’t going to move away from her embrace.

  Held out in front of Chunhua, inside a cage of Elemental Qi, was a woman.

  She had pointed ears, pale-gray skin, wide light-colored eyes, and short black hair. Ash couldn’t help but find her attractive in a very strange and alien way.

  The only thing that Ash could even think upon seeing her was “Dark Elf”.

  Naked and stripped of everything, she sat at the bottom of the cage as it hovered towards him.

  “I’m afraid that anything she had on her became a weapon, or a means to end her own life,” Chunhua apologized. Setting the cage down in front of Ash, she held both her hands forward and then swept them apart in opposite directions.

  The cage vanished and a bubble of Elemental Qi replaced it.

  It would seem that Chunhua had prepared adequately because as soon as the cage vanished, the woman had already attempted to leap forward.

  Closing her right hand, Chunhua tilted her head to the side, then rotated her wrist.

  “Miserable speck,” growled the sorceress. “You dare to attempt to assault Master Sheng.”

  The Dark Elf squealed in pain as her arms were wrenched back behind her and her legs were forced straight and together.

  Bands of Elemental Qi appeared around her wrists and ankles. Then a chain formed between the two sets which linked to a collar that had formed around her neck.

  Chunhua flicked her wrist, relaxing her hand, which caused the bonds to tighten up until the woman was practically hogtied.

  Then she fell to the turf with a thump, landing on her stomach and chest.

  She screamed at Ash in a language he didn’t understand, and he sat there watching her and wondering if her tirade would ever end.

  A full two minutes passed before Tala stood up and suddenly leaned down to slap the woman across the face with her gloved hand.

  “Tala!” Ash said, somewhat shocked and surprised at the sudden violence.

  Pointing at the woman, Tala said something in the language she’d used earlier to speak with the enemy. It sounded like a command and was clearly demanding that the prisoner do something.

  Grimacing, the Elf looked up at Tala angrily. Then she said several words as if she were spitting them out.

  Tala harrumphed at that, but didn’t act.

  “I want to know what her goals were in coming here. What her orders were,” Ash said, watching the Elf on the ground.

  Tala never broke eye contact with the Elf. Instead, she began to speak again.

  Sniffing at Tala, the Elf laid her head down on the ground and refused to say anything at all.

  Trying again, Tala seemed to ask something else, or perhaps asked the same question in a different way.

  Once again, there was no actual response.

  Making a small defeated gesture with her hands, Tala said something far more casually and seemed to resign herself to the situation.

  Whatever it was, it got the Elf’s attention.

  She lifted her head up and began spewing out words fast and furious. As if she were a bag full of commentary that all needed to be spilled out right now, at this very moment.

  Watching and listening, Tala stood there, looking unimpressed and as if she were not going to change her opinion.

  The Elf eventually fell silent. Then she asked a question.

  That question made Tala’s ears perk up. Leaning back down toward the Elf, Tala asked a few questions in response.

  Responding to each one, the Elf nodded her head.

  Turning on her heel and standing up, Tala addressed Ash.

  “They’re here for ruins that they found. It’s in a valley off to the south, southwest. They weren’t able to get inside them, but they’re positive nothing inside has been disturbed since the veil fell,” Tala explained. “Otherwise… they’re really here for the same reason we are. They’re also a scouting force, perhaps two thousand strong, and are working to secure the ruins and take whatever treasures they can find there.”

  “I see,” Ash murmured, dragging his tongue along the inside of his teeth. “Alright. I… suppose that’s really all we needed to know. It doesn’t sound like she knows anything else.”

  “She does not,” Tala agreed. “The Dokkalfar are efficient and cunning, but that also lends them to telling their people quite little.”

  “Alright. Let’s—”

  Na came rushing into the encampment, panting hard.

  “Master Sheng! The Realm Lord’s master is on his way here! I think he knows about the prisoner,” Na said in a rush.

  The last thing Ash wanted to do was to turn her over to the Realm Lord’s master. He knew for certain what would happen the moment he did that.

  Slavery, rape, and quite possibly murder.

  Locke, tell Tai I’m putting another prisoner in with him. I expect him to be civil to her. Anything and everything he does to her, I’ll see returned to him tenfold.

  “I understand,” Locke said.

  Snatching out at the woman with the Hall, Ash vanished her in a flash, dropping her into the prison without a word.

  “Oh? I wonder what he wants,” Ash grumbled, slumping in his seat somewhat. He was actually feeling significantly better by the minute, but he still felt washed out.

  Tala laughed brightly, then moved back over to Ash and sat down at his side. Her arm once more came out, and secured itself around Ash, dragging his head down to her chest and shoulder.

  At the same time, Moira’s wing tightened around Tala and Ash again.

  “This should be interesting,” Moira murmured, leaning into Ash’s side.

  Jia and Mei were staring at Ash and the two women at his side.

  “Me, oh my. I do think Jia and Mei might combine forces to fight off Tala and Moira. This should be delightfully interesting. I wonder how the Chosen One will fare,” Locke said with a dark laugh.

  By your own words, none of this matters once Yue decides to try for me.

  “Correct,” Locke said. “Chosen One.”

  Then why don’t I just engage Yue? That’d stop all this nonsense, wouldn’t it?

  “Stop it? No. She’d just assert herself as your first and toss everyone off. Forcefully. Likely by just forcing you to heel and do a
s she wishes,” Locke explained. “No one has seemed to realize you’re rather docile. Doubly so when it comes to Yue, since you’re so terribly flattered about the fact that you ‘saved’ her.”

  Ash’s entire view flashed bright red and he suddenly felt ill.

  Ill to the point that he wanted to crawl under something and hide. Far away from prying eyes and predators who wanted to kill and eat him.

  Looking around, Ash quickly determined the source of this terrible and strange feeling.

  A middle-aged man was storming toward him. He had black hair, was wearing some sort of circlet around his head, and looked both bored and angry at the same time. His robes were infinitely splendid, his eyes clear and determined. He had rings and a flashy necklace that appeared to be made entirely out of Spirit Gold.

  “He’s the Realm Lord’s master and he’s a low rank Empowered Mortal. Unlike Master Gen, he’s doing everything he can to make his power known.

  “If there’s anyone stronger than him in the first kingdom other than the Realm Lord, I’ll eat my own ass,” Locke muttered. “Trying to compensate for his Killing Intent, but it’s incredibly potent.”

  Ash assumed that must be the fear and the red view he was being treated to.

  Glancing around, he could see that everyone was suffering a similar feeling. All of Ash’s people were trying to resist with varying degrees of success, but at least no one had run.

  Sitting up, Ash pulled away from Tala to at least meet this man with his head held high.

  Trailing along behind the man was Zi Xin Zhou.

  I wonder if he learned about our prisoner or our little battle, and ran off to tell the master.

  Coming to a stop in front of them, the man looked down his nose at Ashley.

  “Where is the prisoner?” demanded the man. The force of the command behind the words was punishing, smashing straight through his ears and into his brain. Ash wanted to do nothing but hand the Elf over to the man and be done with it.

  “Did you hear me? The prisoner, give them to me. Now!” commanded the man.

  The force of his bellow was like a blow struck to Ash’s head.

  Wincing, Ash bent forward at the waist and then threw up everything from his stomach into the grass.

  Tala and Moira beside him went rigid and then slumped backward onto the rocky outcropping.

  Jia, Mei, Na, Yue, Chunhua, and Rou all stumbled backward from the man.

  With a frown, the man looked like he’d just realized the force he was using on children was way over the line.

  Shaking his head, he growled and put his hands on his hips.

  “The prisoner?” asked the man, in a much more subdued voice without the harsh power behind it.

  “Don’t have one,” gasped Ash, trying to get his breath. Then suddenly started throwing up again. After finishing that bout of water and bile, Ash coughed. “None survived. Corpses not far.”

  Groaning, Ash managed to get into an upright position, but he felt like he might throw up again.

  “What?” asked the man, looking confused now. The anger was gone in a flash. “No prisoners?”

  “No. Just corpses. Some trail rations. Couple weapons,” Ash explained, his hands pressed to the sides of his head. His ears were ringing, his eyes slightly unfocused, and he swore he tasted blood inside of his mouth. “Couldn’t catch any of their mounts. Ran off. They were really big lizards.”

  Standing there, the master was obviously at a loss. He’d come in expecting one thing and found another.

  Likely thinking that he hadn’t been brought his due, when all he found were corpses and almost no loot. Certainly, nothing that would be of any value to him.

  “Hmph,” said the master. Then he sighed and shook his head. “This is what I get for showing mercy. You know that? I should have just killed her after I was done with her.”

  Ash had no idea what the man was talking about, but it sounded like he regretted not killing someone he raped.

  Or so Ash supposed.

  It fit with the overall view Ash held of cultivators and the culture behind them.

  It spurred on his ever-growing desire to see it forcefully changed and rebuilt.

  “Fine. Here,” the master said, flicking a pill at Ash. “Take that. Take the plains and set up a forward base there. I’m leaving.”

  Turning on his heel, the man began walking away. He was clearly done with Ash and the entirety of the situation.

  Not to mention, he likely felt that he’d lost face for his treatment of ones who were little better than children to him.

  “I bet the fort at the central point has better women and wine,” muttered the master to himself. “Yeah. I bet they do. Let’s go see what they’re up to.”

  Shaking his head, Ash looked at the pill on his lap then back to the master.

  “It’s a very worthwhile pill,” Locke offered. “Well, if we didn’t have Yue around, that is, Chosen One. Just give it to her later to play with.”

  As the master passed by Zi Xin Zhou, he backhanded him and sent the young man crashing and tumbling across the grass for twenty feet.

  The blow had been so strong that Ash had heard bones breaking even at this distance.

  Marching away, the master had nothing left to say or do with anyone in Ash’s camp at all. Before the man had gotten fifty feet away, Zi Xin was scrambling after him.

  Like a dog seeking approval. He told them we had a prisoner and tried to skew everything.

  I’m going to kill him.

  “I’ll kill him,” Na growled from not far away. “Then I’ll kill that runt Zi Xin Zhou.”

  Ash closed his eyes. His head was ringing and he felt absolutely sick.

  He’d follow his orders because he really didn’t even want to contemplate not doing what he’d been told.

  “Mei, Chunhua, start working on putting together a group for us. We’ll need to begin operating out of a forward base inside the overlap itself,” Ash commanded. “Jia, Na, work on building this place up to survive an attack with much fewer people on defense. This will be our supply depot, field hospital, and logistics support area.

  “Rou, Yue, you’re in charge of running said field hospital and logistics. If anyone has a question, don’t hesitate. Otherwise, let’s get this moving quickly. I’m… I’m not eager to test my mettle against the master.”

  How’s the Elf and Tai doing?

  “Oh, they’re busy yelling at one another in their native languages. I did remind Tai of your warning. They’re both behaving for the time being. I’m keeping an eye on them,” Locke answered. “Do I have your permission to punish them, Chosen One?”

  Yes. So long as it isn’t lasting and prevents them from hurting one another.

  “Wonderful. Now. Let’s get into the overlap and see these ruins. I’m rather curious about them. Very curious,” Locke said.

  Ever since he’d heard of the overlap, Locke had been acting decidedly different.

  In ways that Ash wasn’t quite sure he liked very much. Things were being hidden from him. Things that he felt he needed to know, but that Locke had decided he didn’t.

  Especially when he considered the fact that if the overlap had never occurred, Locke wouldn’t have said anything at all about it.

  Which was odd given how much Locke seemed to know on the subject, when normally he knew very little about anything that wasn’t part of the veil they were in.

  And even that was all mostly knowledge that he’d gleaned from Ash’s interactions with others.

  Things weren’t adding up at all.

  He’d have to watch Locke closely and see what he could learn.

  Twenty-Three

  Ash rode along rather nervously.

  Having entered the plains, they’d been attacked several times by Dokkalfar patrols.

  They were using hit and run tactics, which did little more than wound a handful of people at best. The worst of the attacks had almost caused a fatality.

  Ash had stabilized the minor
injuries, dropped a pill in the wounded woman’s mouth, and then sent her back toward their operational headquarters. He didn’t have anyone to spare for an escort, but she didn’t have far to go and it was a straight shot back.

  Tala getting anything more out of the Elf?

  “Not so far, Chosen One,” Locke said. “Tai is behaving himself, before you ask. And I’ll remind you, I’ve already drained him of his Qi Sea and taken his belongings. He’s as mundane as a cat right now.”

  Rolling his eyes, Ash contemplated pulling Tala out of the Hall anyway and asking her directly.

  His trust in Locke just wasn’t very high right now.

  “We’ll begin turning northwest,” Mei announced from Ash’s right. “We’ve hit the marker.”

  “While I do agree with this course of action, it’s incredibly tedious,” murmured Chunhua from his left.

  “You had the option to swap with Na. She practically demanded it,” replied Ash.

  “Yes, but then I wouldn’t be with you. Rou has entrusted me with pleading our case to you,” Chunhua answered quickly.

  “Your case? What case?” Ash asked, turning to look at the sorceress as they began to make their turn.

  “That Rou and I would be better candidates as your lead wives. Rather than Mei and Jia, or Tala and Moira,” Chunhua said simply. “I’m a sorceress with unparalleled talent. Rou is a Qi Healer. We’re far and away the best choices for you. Given what you’ve taught both of us, we will climb as high as you could ever dream.”

  “That’s all true and accurate. I agree with her. They’re better candidates to be fair. Mei and Jia are determined and talented but… Chunhua and Rou are unique and would be considered extraordinary geniuses,” Locke said. “Take them both to bed, Chosen One. Jia and Mei won’t leave even if they’re second or third.”

  “Just in saying that, you only prove how little you know Ashley,” Mei said, straightening out her mount. “He isn’t interested in power for himself. Or who he can associate with. Not in the least.”

  Yeah, Locke. Why don’t you know me?

  “I do know you, I just don’t care. I’m not trying to sleep with you right now, Chosen One.” Locke’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “More Dokkalfar coming, by the way. They’re very easy to spot considering the whole veil is dead. There’s nothing in the air, nothing in the soil. Nothing anywhere.”