First fist book 2 conflu.., p.60
First Fist Book 2: Confluence of Fates, page 60
The Senior Disciple rose from his seat, eyes revealing a moment of surprise.
Talenoc bowed and raised only a single question. “Will the warriors sleep this night?”
Luca nodded. “I’ll finish with enough time for a short rest. Get to work, everyone. This is our only opportunity.”
Once every herb and reagent had been added to the storage containers of Alchemical Wonders, Luca found himself presented with a vast array of options. Thirty new formulae were suddenly available, several of which originated from his consumption of purchased elixirs or potions from the Sanctum Store.
He quickly read the list while Bodo stood nearby, silent and waiting.
Luca dismissed the various healing concoctions. The sect would either survive this encounter and find the time to heal up, or they’d all be killed quickly and brutally.
He passed over tonics that enhanced resistance to Water, Fire, and Nature Mana. Since their enemy could wield five elements proficiently, such advantages were negligible at best. Luca also skipped several interesting formulae that could be used to speed up mana cycling, tonify the meridians to increase efficiency of techniques, and the like.
Only five options were worth consideration.
“Blisterbomb Paste, Frostblight Accelerant, Elixir of Behemoth’s Enduring Light, Elixir of Behemoth’s Wrath, and Elixir of the Mighty Behemoth,” Luca said, reading off the list. “What do you think, Bodo? We don’t have the time or resources to try all five. Any thoughts?”
The young man sighed. Eyes ringed with red, he crossed the room to stand beside his master and said, “Fancy names, Luca. Not sure what they do, though, so can’t be of much help.”
Luca read off the list again, this time giving his disciple a more comprehensive depiction of the items and their functions.
Bodo nodded when he’d heard the last. “Two groups, then. One of each, I’m assuming. We hit Lu Bao with Fire or Water Mana. Then the last three are variations produced from Behemoth Brush.” His brow furrowed. A moment later, he added, “No clue on what will hurt him worse. Maybe that’s not the point, though? If he’s slowed by the Frostblight, that could help out in the fight that comes after.”
Luca grunted. “I’m hoping there is no fight after. If he survives this, we’re all likely fucked.”
“Then go with the Blisterbomb.”
Nodding, Luca found himself pleased at the young man’s agreement with his own preference. “And the second? Which elixir do you think Hagen and I could benefit most from?”
“Behemoth’s Wrath will give you the most damage output. Seems like your plan is to finish him with the trap, though. If so, then my vote is for Enduring Light. That will let you two survive Lu Bao’s hits a little better.”
Luca rubbed his disciple’s shoulder and searched his eyes, allowing silence to settle upon them and linger. Finally, he said, “How did you do it? That technique,” he clarified. “It was beyond you.”
Bodo nodded. “Yep, it sure was.”
Luca’s logical mind offered the only explanation he’d so far come up with. “The Sect Ideal. I accepted my weakness and gained the strength of my Spirit Fist. Your weakness was mercy, no? So you were given some merciless fire attack?”
Bodo pulled his shoulder away from Luca. A trace of anger glinted in his brown eyes. Shaking his head, he replied, “My weakness wasn’t mercy, Luca. It was compassion.”
“I suppose those are different.”
Bodo sighed, nostrils flaring. “Of course they are. I… I struggled to kill because I felt their pain, Luca. I felt it like I was seeing the death of a loved one. The Skald shaman, those Mindeans… Hell, I can even feel the Mana Beasts we put down.”
Luca swallowed. He’d never seen anything close to disdain in his young friend’s eyes before. Considering it was aimed at him, he felt all the more injured by it. “I’m so sorry,” he said, voice thick with emotion.
Bodo turned to the alchemy table, face impassive. “How do we begin? I’m guessing these won’t be easy to make, so might as well get going.”
Luca nodded, then retrieved a handful of Behemoth Brush pods, one of the False Unicorn blossoms, and one of the precious vials of Enduring Sap of the Life Tree.
Placing the reagents on the workbench, Luca pointed to the pods. “Run three of those through the Andayan Press. I’ll show you how to do the first one; you can do the next two.”
Luca squeezed a few drops of pale green liquid from the first pod, the twin wheels of the press grinding away the pulp. When he finished, and the last drop of extract splashed into the beaker beneath, Bodo repeated the task. It was simple enough that even without any prior knowledge, he was successful.
Afterward, Luca took the beaker and heated it over a Scorch Burner. “The formula says to heat the extract until it turns the color of an orange sunset. Tell me when you think we’ve gotten there.”
Half a minute later, the simmering liquid began to change color.
Bodo coughed into a fist. Then he reached down, lowering his hand. “Hey there, Randall,” he said calmly. “You always come for the good parts, don’t you?”
“Damn lizard is addicted to alchemy.”
Bodo chuckled. Then, nabbing a bit of the pulp from the Andayan Press, he fed Randall. The lizard ate greedily, his tail brightening a little. “That’s probably good,” Bodo said, not missing a beat.
“I thought so too.” Luca switched off the heat and set the beaker aside to cool. “Next, we have to make a paste of the False Unicorn. This is also simple. See that mortar and pestle over there? Go ahead and grind up the blossom as fine as you can get it. The rest is simple but takes a long time.”
Bodo did so, and while the young man worked, Luca found a small leaf of Azure Daisy. He held it out to Randall, but the lizard turned its head away. “Gods, but we’ve spoiled the beast,” he said ruefully. “I swear, Randall, it’s almost like you forget that I found you under a sodden rock.”
“He just has good taste,” Bodo said, the hint of a smile gracing his lips.
Luca sighed. He tried again, not quite keeping his voice steady as he said, “I am sorry, Bodo. I knew what you’d lose by joining me, and yet I gave you the offer anyhow. I let you—“
“You let me?” Bodo shouted, face suddenly red as he glared over his shoulder. “Don’t fucking do that! Don’t you dare, Luca! You let me join the sodden sect. The rest, I chose! Alright?”
Luca’s eyes burned. “By allowing you to become my disciple, I allowed all the rest.”
“Yeah, sure you did,” Bodo spat back. “I swear to Leshra, if I was a bit stronger, I’d slap you silly! I chose to embrace my weakness. I chose to love the men I burned to ash! I chose to stand with you, Luca, because I love you!”
The young man’s words rang and then faded in the small chamber. Each conjured an image of the horror Bodo had rendered and wrought in the oak grove: Men raging weakly against a storm of fire so hot their eyes burst. Skin sloughing from bone, skeletal fingers grasping the flames as if to wound them. Bodo’s tears evaporating on his cheeks. The trails of salt left behind, proof of the grief the disciple had endured in order to unlock the extent of his considerable power.
Luca held his tongue, knowing at last how he’d overstepped.
“It was my fate to bear,” Bodo said in a whisper. “And I’d choose it again. Yes, I’m hurting. Yes, I feel sick to my very bones. But not once have I regretted my choices. I am of the Jackal Sect, Luca. I’m Senior Disciple, and it’s my fucking honor to serve you.”
And then his eyes were fixed to the mortar and pestle again. He ground the stoneware together patiently.
Luca placed a hand on Bodo’s shoulder to survey the work. “It’s nearly done,” he said quietly.
Soon after, Luca added seven drops of Enduring Sap of the Life Tree to the False Unicorn paste. This was added to the catalyzed Behemoth Brush extract. Then the concoction was stirred and placed within the Spherical Hanjo Boiler.
Luca wished Leshra was there. He tried reaching her yet received no response. She’d know how to cheer the lad up.
After setting the heat, Luca shook his head. That’s the problem, though, isn’t it? Bodo isn’t a fucking lad, and he doesn’t need me to cheer him up. He’s a grown man. And he needs time to recover.
As the elixir boiled down, Luca pulled out the next four reagents. Blisterbright Pepper, Mana-Rich Saltpeter, and Dragon Root came first. Then he added the Cayacanna Root, one of the gifts the Skalds had given him. They’d supplied half a dozen other herbs as well, but only the Cayacanna would be used this day.
Reading the first step of the formula, Luca gave Bodo a command. His disciple obeyed, as he always did.
Watching him work, Luca saw in his young and once naive friend a greater depth of humanity. The revelation both filled him with pride and broke the pillars of his heart. They toiled away in silence until the second concoction entered a longer distillation process.
Then, knowing this might be his last opportunity, Luca faced the young man that hadn’t once disappointed him. “I’m sorry, Bodo—not for causing any of this to happen, but for trying to take away your freedom of will, your agency. I’m proud to have you as my Senior Disciple.”
The words sounded hollow. Luca swallowed and steeled himself. Voice cracking a little, he added, “And I love you like my very own son.”
He embraced Bodo then, and Bodo hugged him back. Luca felt warmth seep into the shoulder of his shirt but heard no sobs.
Bodo had indeed grown up. He wasn’t the bright-eyed boy he’d met upon arriving on Wylish Island.
“Come,” he said in his disciple’s ear. “We’ll return in an hour when this is finished. Let’s go check on the others.”
The table was quiet when Luca and Bodo returned from the alchemy room. Talenoc stared into the rippling flames of the hearth, flanked by a pair of Skald warriors. Hagen and Calvin stared at a piece of parchment they’d scrawled notes on, both brooding. Arwin chatted with Talia and Rowan quietly. All seemed partially suspended in time, and Luca suspected they’d finished their initial plan.
Such was the way of things. When the thinking was done and talked over, quiet and more thinking followed.
“Catch me up,” Luca said, taking a seat at the head of the table. “What does our ambush plan look like so far?”
Hagen sighed and looked to Calvin, who only shook his head. The old knight pursed his lips. It was easy to tell he wasn’t comfortable with the position Luca had placed him in. When it came to matters of Fist and Fang, or even cultivation, Bodo’s knowledge easily outstripped Hagen’s. Had they been planning the quickest route through the woods, Luca would have asked Arwin. This was just another battle, though, and nobody—not even Luca himself—had fought and survived as many as Hagen.
Begrudgingly, he pointed to the parchment. “Rowan claims Leshra will reveal her final sign here, near the entrance to the Sanctum. Since the bastard has wings, I don’t think that monster will be long in coming.”
Rowan nodded to confirm when Luca looked her way. “Apparently, Leshra created a sequence of runes to act as beacons to distract Lu Bao. Assuming it worked, he’ll end up outside our front door shortly after first light. She said the Sanctum would be lost if we all died in the effort, so figured it’d be best to at least make use of it.”
Luca nodded. “We can seal the entrance and have some of our forces spring out from it when the time is right. And it’ll make preparation that much easier as well.”
“Precisely,” Hagen said. Circling the center of the crude map, he added, “The Skalds will place their Array of Binding here. Talenoc will be capable of activating it on his own. Hopefully, it will hold Lu Bao in place, or at the very least reduce his ability to evade. When the array is activated, all ranged attacks will be fired, and then four of our strongest fighters will close in for melee.”
“When we fought the other one, that Shuyanese monster, we were capable of hurting him,” Calvin put in, mentioning precisely the same memory Luca had running through his mind. “Unless his brother is stronger, I think we can do it, Luca. Yondi did a lot of damage on his own, and Hagen’s a match for him.”
Hagen grunted. “Maybe. Yondi fights like a demon, but I do have greater mastery of the Stone.”
“Our strongest four,” Luca said thoughtfully, scratching his beard with the tips of his fingers. “I’m curious who you elected for that position.”
Talia snickered. “I’d of course be at the top of this list, but I have my bow. We were thinking you, Hagen, Talenoc, and my little brother Bodo.”
“Aye,” Hagen said with a firm nod. “And the Skald warriors can spring out from the Sanctum. They can reinforce us if the shit runs downhill.”
Luca visualized the battle in his head. It was a serviceable plan, but he had one troubling question. “How do we get him in position?” he asked with a quirked eyebrow. “And where will these other champions and ranged attackers be hidden?”
“We have three runes of concealment,” Talenoc said proudly. “Anyone who wears one cannot be detected, if they are still as the leaf on water.”
“The rest will enter the fray from the Sanctum itself,” Calvin finished. “Ranged attackers can deliver their shots before the warriors charge in. And hopefully, we hit him hard enough that he bleeds out and gives up his accursed ghost.”
Luca held up a finger to stop the report. “Talenoc, how effective is this Array of Binding? Enough to hold someone stronger than myself?”
The war chief tipped his head from one side to the other. “It depends on many things. My father is much more powerful than you, and he would be trapped securely. The elder of the Shishromi Ko, and even his war chief, would both break the array’s magic. Their abilities focus on evasion.”
Luca sighed. It wasn’t much of a guarantee. Still, he’d take the tool that was offered. “If Lu Bao does break out, will he be slowed at all? Or will the arrays have no effect once broken?”
“Once the linked mana is no more, the invisible chains will shatter,” Talenoc said, confirming Luca’s fear.
“Very well. What else? What of Rowan? Her Water Mana doesn’t seem well-suited for a ranged attack. Not yet, at least.”
Hagen tipped his nose at the woman, who answered for herself. “I was thinking I could either fight beside Talia and protect her if Lu Bao attacks… or reinforce the array by freezing the ground at his feet. That might lock him in place, though if I’m being honest, I don’t know if it would work.”
The First Fist chuckled as he did the math. “Three runes to hide our champions, ranged and the rest in the Sanctum. I’m to be the unlucky fool to greet our guest?”
Hagen sighed, and the rest only looked at Luca, eyes hard.
“Makes sense to me,” Luca said with a nod. His voice was laden with worry. He would add a bit of flare to the design, yet it wasn’t easy trusting any plan when the stakes were so high.
Talia, sensing his mood with her typical savvy, stepped closer and placed her fingertips atop the table. “Came up with another plan first. Figured maybe we could use the Sanctum defensively. I thought it’d be a fine place to shoot an arrow from if we surprised that animal. But Hagen and Calvin both agreed we could hold a line in defense. Our enemy is too strong.”
Luca nodded along, pleased they’d at least thought things through.
Finally, Talenoc added his own opinion. “You and your strongest two men could confront this Lu Bao. Then we could activate the array when he counters, and my warriors and I could flank him.” The Skald shrugged. “It doesn’t seem better than the first, though, and it places you in danger before we attempt to use the aid of the Arrays of Binding. I like the tall man’s idea better.”
Hagen shrugged. “Sorry, Luca. We have a few other options, especially if you can cook up something nasty in that alchemy room, but this seemed best, given our relatively scarce resources.”
That was when the First Fist of the Jackel Sect smiled. He reached into the Spatial Inventory he’d inherited and tossed down two items. The first was a massive pair of enchanted gauntlets, the second a quiver veiled in silver mana. “We have more than you know,” Luca said. “And when I’m finished with the elixirs and explosives, I think we’ll be able to modify this plan of yours nicely. When we’re through here, I think even this Lu Bao will have reason to fear us.”
Hagen stared at the gauntlets, his eyes sparkling with an inner desire. “What are those?” he asked in a subdued voice.
“Those, my friend, are an advance on your commission. You can have them”—Luca grinned—“but only if you agree to join my sect as Meishu of the Stone Clan.”
46
A STORM OF FIVE ELEMENTS
“It isn’t the lion in the open the hunter must fear, but the viper concealed in the grass.”
~Raigan, the Great Hunter
The morose slate of the pre-dawn sky brightened so slowly Luca wondered if time had given up its inexorable task.
He waited impatiently, spear in hand and garbed in simple robes, for Lu Bao, this beast from Shuyan.
At last, a golden shaft pierced the sky. Over the expanse of Irilay’s Wood to the east, the sun rose. Mere moments later, a small rune coalesced some five feet above the ground. A desperate hope welled in his chest. He tried to reach out to his deity, yet no response came, and the glowing rune was devoid of life.
He’d seen its like on the statue of Roe, though at the time he hadn’t known its meaning.
Chaos, it read.
A scant few minutes later, chaos came to heed the call. A distant swirl of dark smoke came into view, then a man carried aloft on two great wings. Lu Bao flew at incredible speed. Somehow, the man’s gift of flight allowed him to accelerate much swifter than a bird of prey.
