Page 4 of The Wind Dancer
The floorboard in the center rose slightly. I gently inserted the blade of my dagger into the gap and leveraged it up.Beneath it was a safe built right into the stone foundation of the house.
The lock mechanism seemed complicated. But even the most sophisticated locks couldn’t stop a Shadow Walker like me, who had mastered the art of lockpicking.
I had just bent down to examine it in more detail and prepare the right tools when I heard a hoarse voice that sounded as if it had come from the great beyond.
“If you want to live, Shadow, you’ll stop immediately...”
CHAPTER 2
The voice made me recoil at lightning speed. I spun around, looking for its source with both my gaze and the tip of my dagger. I almost swore when I found it.
The eyes of the “dead” dragonblood were focused on me. My old man had told me they had incredible regeneration, but this was too much...
“Fast... And smart...” The noble’s voice was full of power and authority. “Come to me!” The tone made it clear this man was used to obedience, and that this was an order, not a request.
“Why? I’m not big on this kind of thing. So I’d rather stay here,” I replied in a barely audible tone and nodded at his mutilated body.
His response was a quiet laugh, more akin to a cough.
“And he’s got character...” It was clear that it was difficult for him to speak, but his spirit was clearly even stronger than his body. “You’re at my mercy, Shadow. One shout andtheywill rush back here. Then you’ll wish you weren’t born.”
“Yes... but then they’d get right back to what they were doing to you,” I replied with a pained tone.
“I know, but surviving doesn’t matter to me anymore, honor and duty do. You’re young, and you obviously want to live. Shadow Walker, I offer you a deal.” He used the invocation words of my profession, and I as a future master was obliged to respond in kind. Sweat beaded on his forehead. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the effort our conversation took.
“Lightwalker, I am ready to hear the task and conditions.” The dragonblood smiled again. The world of Shadows may have been different from the world of those who walk in the light, but we had rules and laws too. And making and accepting a deal fell under those.
“Come here.” Again with that commanding tone, I wondered if he was perhaps a general. I approached, but stopped at the side of the chair, making any attempt at an attack difficult for him. I had no idea what could be going on in the mind of an almost dead man. Even though I knew the dragonblood were much stronger than regular men, holding my dagger made me feel confident. Despite their strength, even the ones who had walked on the path of Ascension were still mortal.
“Take my hand.”
I took his right hand by the wrist, and his fingers shot up like a viper, gripping me as tightly as a steel vice. My dagger was ready, but his words seemed to root me.
“Don’t move, Shadow.” I watched in horror as a needle-sharp claw grew out of his mangled finger and pierced my hand. Then his grip loosened, and, with great effort, he brought thebloody claw to his mouth, licking it. He was silent for a few seconds and looked as if he were appraising it like a wine.
“The Eternal Flame values patience. I waited and was rewarded. Heaven knows you’re clean. I don’t feel the blood of the Distortion in you. Truly a rarity nowadays.” What in the world was he talking about? Perhaps he had developed a fever and was rambling now. His lidless eyes focused back on my masked face, as if he had sensed my thoughts.
“Now, about the deal, Shadow. Swear to fulfill my three requests, and in return I will tell you how to open the safe without dying. Then you may take anything from it.”
“I’ll need more details.” My intuition was screaming at me that there was something afoot, and that I needed to be cautious.
“The first request: There’s a folder with documents in the safe. They must be delivered to Xuan Changhua, a spice merchant from the City of a Hundred Lakes. Do not open the folder. Tell him about what you witnessed here tonight.”
The City of a Hundred Lakes was three weeks away from here, deep in the Empire, but it wasn’t a difficult trip. It would just cost a bit. And if a person was a spice merchant, then they would be easy to find.
“Alright...”
“You’ll hear the rest when you take a look at what you’ll be getting. Now, the lock is a trap — if you touch it, you’ll get poison needles shot at your face. If you look at the safe door from a specific angle you’ll see faint elemental symbols on the surface. Make an enhancement cycle for the Fire element. When the Fire symbol flashes, point its tip westward. After the click, push it down into position.”
He paused for a moment, thinking, and then decided to explain in more detail, fearing a simple Shadow wouldn’t understand. Except, I was well versed in the cosmology and philosophy of the Sunset Empire. My mentor taught me that if you didn’t understand the true value of things, you’d only steal gold, and it was far from the most valuable thing in the world. And so, I became well versed in, not just writing, math, and calligraphy, but even several languages.
“I’m talking about the South in the elemental cycle, not on the compass. You’ve heard of the enhancement cycle, right?” he began. I nodded and moved to the safe.
The surface, which had seemed immovable before our conversation, now easily revealed its secrets. The barely perceptible element symbols were concealed within the carved patterns which formed a complex ornament. It was a good thing I now knew where to look, these really wouldn’t have been visible from the angle at which I would’ve approached the safe, and I could’ve actually died. I wasn’t a master Shadow, I was a fool, but at least I was a lucky fool. Taking a deep breath to chase away those thoughts, I crouched, finding the exact angle at which... The delicate lines flashed with an ethereal light.
I got down on one knee, touching the carved circle. Fire enhancement...
It always began from Earth, the first element. It created Metal, Metal created Water, Water nourished Wood, and Wood nourished Fire. It seemed so simple now, but there was a lot of complex philosophy behind it that my mentor had to drill into me.
