Page 45 of The Wind Dancer
I took a step forward to the edge of the tower. The drop looked infinite. The city breathed beneath me, and it now felt like a part of me. I could feel every wind current coursing through the streets, hear people breathe.
The wind showed me everything. Lantern lights trembling in the breeze, silhouettes in windows, life hiding in the alleys. People who didn’t know their world was about to change.
But the wind knew, and it urged me to change as well. To put aside the pathetic conventions of life on the ground and finally take off.
I didn’t understand what it was talking about, but I felt it was right.
Down in the streets, somewhere far away, the first fire went out. I could see it so clearly, as if I were looking through someone else’s eyes. Then another one went out, and another. A shadow from far over the sea was coming in to cover the city. The wind was howling, calling me, demanding I act.
“Fly.”
I took a step into the void.
The wind picked me up before I realized I was falling. I wasn’t — I was flying. It wrapped around me, carried me, lifted me higher. My body no longer belonged to the ground. I felt the air merge with me, my bones turning light, as if made of the wind itself.
At the edge of the horizon, the lights kept disappearing.
The wind was rushing there, showing me the way. There, among the waves, I spotted something. Something dark and massive. It floated toward the city, hidden by a curtain of rain. I could sense its presence and its evil desire.
“The storm is coming.”
The words echoed inside me. It was more than just a storm. Destruction would soon reach us.
I soared up, leaving the city far below. The wind rushed ahead, guiding me, and it shouted warnings at me. I could feel the lightning inside me getting stronger. The patterns came to life now. The ancient energy ran through my veins, and my heart was pounding like a hammer.
“You are the storm.”
I didn’t know what awaited me. But I knew that the wind wouldn’t lead me astray. I could feel its power permeating my body, becoming a part of me. I wasn’t a man on a tower. I wasn’t a lurking Shadow.
I was the wind.
I rose higher still, straight into the heart of the storm, and I saw an impossibly large wave breaking beneath me. It covered the horizon, spreading tentacles of darkness toward the land. I couldn’t see the ships, but I could feel them there. They were coming with this wave.
Thunder boomed like cannons, and lightning flashed around me. The wind exploded in sharp gusts and roars, rushing through the darkness, cutting it like a blade. I clenched my fists and felt the lightning arcing between my fingers.
I was flying into the storm, straight into the heart of the darkness, and I wasn’t afraid.
The wind and I were one...
I jolted awake, like a man suddenly plunged into deep water. My chest tightened painfully, and my heart was pounding, as if it were trying to burst through my ribs. My eyes flew open, and it took me a second to realize where I was.
I was home. The faint scent of old incense and the subtle aroma of wine lingered in the air. It was still dark outside, but it was clearly closer to early morning. I could hear the muffled sounds coming from the street, the breathing of a sleepy city, the first merchants heading out to prepare for a new day.
I sat up, tense, and immediately noticed a strange lightness in my body. I wasn’t tired. The ache in my muscles felt... gone.
Memories flooded in. The meeting with Mei Lin, the conversation, the deal... Fu Shang’s stupid disciples. I was going down the slippery slope of cooperating with the Secret Chancellery, and now I couldn’t back out. It made me nervous and tense, but after taking a moment to listen to my body, I realized that wasn’t what was bothering me most. I was unsettled by how restored I felt.
There was no pain. I wasn’t ignoring it to focus on other things. It was actually gone. It felt as though my injuries had happened weeks ago, not the previous night.
Turning to examine my wounds, I stared in disbelief at the thin scar on my side. I remembered perfectly how deep the blade had cut, how my shoulder had burned, and how even the slightest movement had caused pain. I had been wounded many times before, and I knew how long such injuries took to heal, even with the best ointments.
But now...
My fingers slid over the smooth skin. There was no wound, just a barely noticeable line. I moved my palm to my shoulder, and there was nothing there either.
How?
I was startled when something flashed in front of me. An arc of light, so quick that I almost thought I was imagining it.
