Page 44 of The Wind Dancer
And for good reason.
Three people were waiting for me at the entrance of my hideout. I recognized them right away — they were Fu Shang’s personal disciples. The flickering lantern light made their faces look as if carved from stone. They positioned themselves to cut off my retreat. The fools thought they could corral me.
“Feng Lao,” one of them began. He was a broad-shouldered brute with a bull’s face. I always found it strange that such a dull brute could be a disciple of one of the most underhanded guild elders. “The elder summons you to his place.”
I grinned, folding my arms across my chest.
“Summons?” I drawled, shaking my head. Apparently, they had decided to test how ready I really was to be a master. “It looks like you misunderstood. The elder asks master Shadow Feng Lao to honor him with a visit. He doesn’t give me orders.”
They glanced at each other, and the bull-faced brute stared at me, growing more irritated with each passing second. Perfect. Nothing like a good fight to blow off steam.
“Stop acting so important, you little rat.” One of them stepped toward me, but I had already seen it coming.
With a quick movement, I grabbed his forearm. They had made a mistake. I wasn’t some shopkeeper they were used to collecting tribute from.
Before he could even think to pull free, I twisted his arm and locked his elbow. Not giving him any time to react, I stepped back and yanked him down and to the side. There was a crunch as his arm snapped like a twig.
He roared in pain, and I shifted my grip to his greasy hair. The next moment, I had one of my daggers in hand, raising it to his face so the threat was unmistakable even through the shock.
“If you move, I’ll cut your eye out,” I whispered, looking at his twisted, pained face.
The other two didn’t move. It was one thing for three of them to attack me, but entirely different when one of them was already on the ground, screaming in pain. And by the laws of the streets, I was well within my rights to take his life.
“Tell Fu Shang that I’ll be ready to meet him.” I pressed the blade harder, and the man whimpered. “Tomorrow night, at the tea house on Old Yun’s territory.”
They seemed to understand and remained silent. Grinning, I shoved the man toward them. He dropped to his knees, groaning in pain, but didn’t dare say a word.
It was his own fault. He had raised his hand against a master, which meant the master could strike him down.
“One more thing,” I said over my shoulder before stepping into the darkness. “Next time, he should send smarter messengers.”
“It’s time to spread your wings...”the wind whispered to me as I entered my home.
CHAPTER 13
I was standing at the top of a tower, high above the roofs of Cloud City. Below me, the light of lanterns and the shadows tangled in a maze of streets. The wind rushed between the walls, pushed through windows, swayed the signs, and whispered to lonely travelers. Up here, it was alive. I could feel it moving around me, gently touching my skin, playing with the hem of my robe.
I heard it calling me.
I took a deep breath, and my lungs filled. The air was clean, fresh, and slightly salty, but it didn’t smell of fish like it did at the port. There was a hint of a storm in it.
Something big was coming.
I was absolutely sure of it. Somewhere beyond the horizon, beyond where the city and the endless sky met, something dangerous was moving toward us. Guided by someone’s icy will, it would come to my home. And it felt unstoppable.
The wind was restless, warning me.
“You can’t stay asleep anymore. The time has come.”
I looked at my hands, my skin was covered with subtle, glowing patterns. They looked like lightning bolts frozen in time. I could feel them pulsing. With each heartbeat, they flared up, and I could feel warmth spreading through my veins.
The wind was picking up, but I wasn’t afraid. It was my ally, it was in my blood. It didn’t just carry me, it changed me. Every movement felt like a touch, like a voice whispering ancient truths to me.
“Wake up. Rise. Accept who you are.”
I raised my head to the sky. There were no stars above the Cloud City tonight, only dark clouds, distant flashes of lightning appearing through them. I could hear the thunder that hadn’t yet reached the ground. The wind wailed and roared, its whispers getting louder in my soul.
“You are the sky. You are the wind. You are the storm.”
