by T. A. Miles
Afterward, she took her place on the throne, from where she would oversee the marriage of two of her officers. The holiness of the moment had not been lost on Tristus to begin with, but once the ceremony was underway, and Xu Liang and Shirisae were standing alongside each other in unchallenged expression of their love, it settled over him so completely that he bowed his head for a moment in prayer.
I thank you, dear God, for this gift and for your blessing, and for your guidance.
The prayer was thought, rather than spoken, and afterward he touched the tips of his fingers to his forehead, his lips, and finally his heart.
The Shifting of Ancient Snow on the Mountains
THE RETURN FROM the Imperial City had been an almost grim procession. Xiang Wei rode alongside his sister, half-convinced that they’d left a funeral behind them instead of a wedding. If weddings were so terrible, then he wanted nothing to do with one himself.
“A wedding at court is not the same as a wedding at home,” his sister told him.
“Which is no comfort, since our father has talked about a court wedding.”
Bozheng shook her head, smiling only a little, but enough that Xiang Wei felt humored. “It’s nothing for you to worry about now,” she said. “You’re only fifteen.”
“I suppose you’re right,” he decided to say, and by that evening he had moved away from the subject of marriages.
The caravan made camp not far beyond the snow line entering the mountains. It was the area where travelers tended to camp along the route between the Imperial City and Dhong Castle. Xiang Wei had been told that it was also the place where the Barbarian Generals had camped when they were first entering Sheng Fan. It was said that the White Tiger General had been named for an encounter with a tiger.
For that reason, Xiang Wei had been standing in the cold darkness at the edge of camp, watching the shadows.
It was Huang Je who guessed that, too easily. “Waiting for a tiger?”
Xiang Wei glared, turning that glare eventually onto his father’s favored bodyguard when he came to be standing beside him. “You disbelieve that one will come?”
“I believe one has already been here,” was his answer.
His voice was not snide, though Xiang Wei decided the words could be taken for that. At times Huang Je seemed to know too much, but he was also a barbarian, in part. He had been born even farther north than Ying, and had to travel into Sheng Fan himself, so perhaps he did have more insight than one might think.
Or perhaps he was simply arrogant.
“There’s more than one white tiger in Sheng Fan,” Xiang Wei told him.
Huang Je lifted both shoulders, then left.
Xiang Wei listened to his footsteps in the snow, noting to himself that they were very difficult to hear, no matter how quiet the wilderness was.
Hours later, Xiang Wei practiced making his own footsteps as silent as possible while he moved through the snow, carefully guiding his horse along after him. Nearly everyone was asleep, except for the guards. Huang Je was guarding his father’s tent, so Xiang Wei felt that it would be possible to avoid notice, so long as he timed it correctly.
He waited for the patterned route of four soldiers to leave him an opening, then proceeded to the nearest group of trees. The first stand was only a short distance from the edge of camp. There weren’t many, but one of them had fallen at some point, so he was able to use the length of it to make a path nearer to the next wooded area. He had only the moonlight to guide him and thankfully, it wasn’t bright enough to reveal anything in great detail.
Within several minutes, he felt that he had accomplished enough of a distance to ride, and did so, into the forest where he might find a beast of legend. He had only a short sword, but he wasn’t interested in an altercation with such a creature. He wanted only to see it.
The forest quickly grew thick, blocking out much of the moonlight, though Xiang Wei’s eyes had adjusted somewhat, which made everything blend together in mottled gray tones. At times, he believed that he saw shapes that moved. That, paired with the sparse but clear sounds of the woods in isolation had him decide that he was not as interested in exploring alone in the night as he thought he might be.
He began to make a path toward an area which appeared lighter, believing that it was a clearing. He would use the moonlight to make his way back to camp and forget about god-beasts for now.
That was when an owl glided in front of him. He only knew it was an owl, because he’d been witness to several since he’d begun traveling more frequently with his father. Still, it startled him and his horse. He reached forward to calm the animal, then continued on.
Breaking through the trees line, he found himself at a clearing that seemed to have no open path anywhere. It was completely surrounded by the collected darkness of the trees. Studying the area closer, he descried what may have been a high cliff face to his left with snow stacked against it, blocking him from going any further away from camp unless he intended to track around it. Fearing that he would only get lost, he directed his horse back the way he had come.
It was then that he heard something move. He paused to look back, searching the shadows. They were shifting curiously. A rushing sound began to take down the silence of night. It took Xiang Wei but a moment to realize that the snow was moving.
He hurried to turn his mount around and return to the woods, which he believed would be out of any direct path downhill. He was wrong. The snow began to cascade in torrential sheets, pushing through the trees. He was caught in an avalanche. He would be buried.
But it was no avalanche, he learned when the tide of snow suddenly stopped, without carrying him or his horse down the slope beyond a few paces. It must have been only a minor break off a shelf. Still, he knew it could trigger a worse movement, and urged his horse to find his footing in the deeper snow.
The animal was not interested in moving, until the wind moved through the forest in a drawn, gravelly breath. At that point, the horse reared back as if it had fire set beneath it.
Xiang Wei lost his grip on the reins and fell into snow that immediately encased his arms when he tried to catch himself. All of it began to move once again when he attempted to stand, and he believed it was the full avalanche coming now.
But again, it stopped, and as he looked through the trees he could see a form in the clearing. He could see the moonlight trace across pearlescent plates…across scales…
It was no avalanche…only the shifting of something ancient. A dragon.
Xiang Wei’s breath caught and he hovered in the freezing mound, wondering what to do, or if he should do anything at all.
The form seemed to glide forward, moving in shifting colors across the darkness as its scales caught the light. In the otherwise lack of significant lighting they appeared somewhat blinding, yet they were also somewhat mesmerizing to look at, making it nearly impossible for him to look away. But the beast was moving, so perhaps it was leaving and if he stayed still…
I can see you.
The impression of words upon his mind startled him the same as if the dragon had spoken literal words. He wondered for an instant whether or not the words were somehow his own, but it was not the voice of his subconscious. It was not his voice at all, but…hers.
Through the trees a flash of light traced in one direction, then the other. The longer Xiang Wei stared, the more he began to see the details of an eye, one that was not searching, but staring directly at him.
Dragons were messengers, he reminded himself. He simultaneously tried not to think of the details of what he’d heard regarding the dragon at the Imperial City.
That was not one of us.
Xiang Wei released the breath he had not realized he was holding. It escaped in a small cloud, followed by words. “What was it?”
It was one of them.
“What…” Xiang Wei took a moment to breathe better before continuing. “What are they?”
Demons.
The answer felt abr
upt. Xiang Wei bowed his head, in case he had offended her.
Their presence awakens us. I have slept for some time. Already I tire at the notion of conflict.
“Conflict with demons?” After the question formed, Xiang Wei witnessed another flashing at the eye and came to realize that it was the dragon blinking.
She chose not to answer him directly. There is a winding path ahead of you, child. You must follow it…carefully.
Xiang Wei was uncertain what to say to that, and so said nothing.
The dragon continued after another span of watching him. Be an ally to the gods’ champions, Xiang Wei of Ying. Encourage them to fight the shadows.
He paused for a very long moment himself as those words entered his mind. “How?” he eventually asked.
Her massive head shifted so that both eyes were looking into the forest, at him. Control will come to you. Do not hesitate to take it.
Continue the adventure in THREE FATES.
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T. A. Miles fell down a rabbit hole ages ago, and nothing more need be said about it.
T. A. Miles has been writing novels for over twenty years. She finally presented the results of her mental wanderings to readers in 2011 with the gothic-mystery Raventide, and has published five novels, four short stories, and one novella since.
Will curiosity pull you down the rabbit hole? Visit T. A. Miles at her blog, The Immarcescible Word, to experience her exclusive collection of snippets, extracts, and more!
theimmarcescibleword.com
CELESTIAL EMPIRE
Six Celestial Swords
Five Kingdoms
Four Barbarian Generals
Three Fates
THE BLOOD WARS TRIILOGY
Blood Lilies
Blood Song
Blood Reign
Blood Wars Trilogy Omnibus
THE DREAMER SERIAL
A Bit(e) of Discretion, Please
A Little Night Magic
All the Tea in Chinatown
Four and Twenty Tengu
Man’s Best Fiend
STAND ALONE STORIES
Raventide
Masque of Shadow
See More at RaventideBooks.com
