Unintended Cultivator

Sen knew from personal experience with his hiding technique that people could mask themselves from a spiritual sense. In a place like the capital, that represented a huge stumbling block in dealing with or flushing out enemies. Widespread attacks were simply too dangerous and carried far too much risk of injuring mortal or the uninvolved. In a place where Sen held the high ground, there were enemies in numbers, and there was only one person’s life he was concerned with preserving, that advantage disappeared like a whisper in a night breeze. Sen lifted his hand, weaving together qi almost on instinct. Then, he brought that hand down. A wave of raw force slammed down on the forest below like a blow from a god. With the exception of a lone tree in which Falling Leaf was perched, everything in a thirty-foot circle around her was crushed flat. Trees exploded, stones shattered, and spirit beasts died.

The remaining spirit beasts, the ones outside that circle of death and mayhem, froze in place. They were either shocked into stillness by the abrupt and overwhelming violence or too frightened to move, lest they draw more of that ire down on themselves. Sen wasn’t picky about which as he lowered the qi platform until he hovered next to Falling Leaf and held out a hand to her. She gave him a bright smile, took the hand, and graciously allowed him to help her step onto the platform. She looked around at the area that had been leveled and snorted.

“You’re good at announcing yourself,” she said.

“I do my best,” said Sen. “I hate for people to die confused. They were chasing and attacking you, so I assumed they needed to die.”

“They did,” said Falling Leaf with an icy edge in her voice.

Sen nodded and did his best not to let his relief bleed onto his face.

“You noticed me watching the area?”

Falling Leaf nodded as she scanned the forest around them and said, “I knew you would come. It was convenient. I thought I’d have to get much closer to the mortal dens.”

“The houses?” asked Sen in amusement.

“If you like,” she said before her gaze sharpened and she thrust a finger at a particular spot. “That one! I want that one alive!”

Sen pinpointed a spirit beast in his spiritual sense where Falling Leaf was pointing. He nodded his agreement.

“The rest?”

Falling Leaf’s eyes were hard and there was something wholly alien in them that Sen remembered from their days fighting on the mountain. At that moment, her human skin was little more than a mask. This was the ghost panther who had befriended him when he had been so very much alone in a world he didn’t understand. And his friend was in a cold fury.

“They no longer serve a purpose in this world. We should relieve the world of that burden.”

Sen considered Falling Leaf for a moment, that fey rage in her eyes, and inclined his head again.

“As you command,” he said.

Sen let his gaze drift from point to point, stopping briefly where the spirit beasts stood in the trees. Threads of qi began streaming from him. For a few moments, Sen was connected to the earth below and the sky above by the primordial powers given shape and form by cultivation. Those threads of qi burrowed deep and reached high, seeking what they needed, seeking to fulfill his will. At the same time, Sen borrowed from Glimmer of Night. While it might take centuries before he could accomplish a fraction of what the spider could do in a blink, there were still lessons to be gleaned that he could apply. He wove a web around the spirit beasts, as light as feathers and as strong as the finest forged steel.

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Sen didn’t normally find much use for theatrics but, every once in a while, he did employ them. He slowly lifted a hand, pressed his thumb and third finger together, and snapped. He had been very careful in how he crafted this technique. Despite that care in preparation, even he was shocked by the results. A wave of sonic force rolled toward the spirit beasts. Everything simply vanished into a cloud of plant matter, rock dust, and soil that raced toward the spirit beasts. They panicked and tried to flee, only to discover they were held fast in his web. After the cloud had washed over them, every remaining spirit beast was exposed. They all stared up at him in horror, only in that moment fully understanding the depth of their terrible mistake. Sen stared back at them with pitiless eyes. His voice was as cold as his heart when he finally addressed them.

“Spirit beasts. You have come into my domain. You have sought to harm one dear to me. You have all been judged.”

The spirit beast let out cries of dismay as the ground began to tremble and the sky seemed to transform above. What had once been clear and blue was now a mass of jagged ice that blotted out everything. As the trembling grew worse, the trapped spirit beast cried out for mercy, for pity, for anything that might stay his hand. Sen was not moved by these cries, knowing full well that he would have received no such mercy from them. Instead, he reached out his hand and spoke one more time.

“I find you wanting!” he thundered and closed his hand into a fist.

Masses of sharpened rock burst from the ground even as the ice descended, closing around the spirit beast like the maw of some great, unforgiving monster. There was no fight to it. One moment, there was screaming, and the next moment, there was bloody rock and ice. Only one spirit beast had escaped the fury. It was the one that Falling Leaf had singled out. Sen didn’t recognize them, but he didn’t need to know them to read their expression. He floated the qi platform down to the ground in front of the survivor. Falling Leaf didn’t hesitate for a second. She stormed up to the other spirit beast and seized it by the throat, her nails sinking so deep that blood started flowing freely.

“We will speak,” she said

Of course, she had said it in a way that told Sen that there would not be much talking involved. Not that he was worried about her handling one enemy. He was a lot more concerned about the small group of spirit beasts that were fast approaching the town. He didn’t think he should let them get within sight of the place. At least, he shouldn’t unless he was personally escorting them. Given that he didn’t know what the situation actually was with them, that wasn’t going to happen. He also didn’t think he’d get the entire story until Falling Leaf had finished her chat with that poor doomed soul he’d theoretically spared. Still, he needed something to go on.

“Before that—” started Sen, only to get cut off by a glare from Falling Leaf.

He lifted a hand to mutely ask for a tiny bit of patience from the still-furious ghost panther. She gave him an almost nonexistent nod. He tried again.

“Thank you. I was just wondering if I need to go kill those other ones before they get to the town.”

Falling Leaf’s anger momentarily evaporated, and her eyes went a little wide.

“No!” she shouted. “Don’t kill them.”

“Great,” said Sen. “That’s all I needed to know. Should I release that one?”

The fury roared back to life in Falling Leaf’s eyes as she said, “Please do.”

With a thought, Sen unwove the web that had been holding the spirit beast in place. Then, he left as fast as his qi platform could carry him. It was just to get to the other spirit beasts before something bad happened at the wall. I’m definitely not running away, thought Sen. Definitely not running away from whatever she’s about to do that I don’t want showing up in my dreams. He nodded to himself a few times. Definitely not running, he thought. He did manage to catch up with the other spirit beasts before they got to town, but he hadn’t made a plan for how he meant to stop them. He knew he could stop them, but that would involve a lot more violence than Falling Leaf seemed to want for them. They didn’t know him. They might attack him if he just dropped out of the sky.

There were only about a half a dozen of them, though. Well, I guess I can just restrain them if it comes down to it, thought Sen as he dropped out of the sky right in front of them. The spirit beasts stumbled to a halt. Before he could get a word in edgewise, something that looked like a mix of a man and some kind of bird of prey dropped to its knees.

“We beg sanctuary from Judgment’s Gale!”

Sen blinked rapidly at the bird-man before he finally managed to make his mouth produce a word.

“Huh.”