Dragons Will Fly Again
Mei offered her guest her best ethereal smile. It was still a bit chilly in the tea house, but the servants kept the coals in the pit accordingly warm and the attendants of the tea ceremony held warmed stones in the pockets of their garments. Also, Mei had a lifelong practice of not showing her physical or emotional discomfort, and her guest didn't seem to be freezing either.
- "How pleasant the garden is, how many great cycles this garden has seen..." the old man mused.
- "Ah, we would be anticipating the time of cherry blossoms already, but the forces of Jigoku make us unsure whether we will see them again," Mei countered, her voice airy and indifferent as it was supposed to be.
- "Indeed. The forces of Jigoku. Mei-chan, young one, what does an ornamental thing like you know of them? More than many would guess, perhaps?" The beady eyes intent on her. Mei steeled herself to look back without flinching, her eyes dark, reflecting nothing.
- "I know the stories my beloved sire, my long gone otousan-sama told me, may his soul forever rejoice in Yomi with our blessed ancestors. I know to beware the corruption of souls, to watch my step," Mei said.
- "Do you, Mei-chan? Your eyes are like the surface of a pond, hiding many secrets. Child of nature and child of man, an old man like me is bound to wonder if perhaps there is more to you than one would at first guess."
- "Most honored Giro-sama, I am a mere child. But are there not secrets in any heart?"
- "Absolutely, sweet thing. Now, will you sing for me? That would lighten my old heart."
Mei smiled briefly and raised her voice.
Even dragons fall
every day will bring more death
bamboo grove is still
Dreams of destruction
in fever-dreams of madmen
bamboo grove will stir
Dragons will fly again
life will find its way again
bamboo grove is still
The old man took a long, long look at Mei, who didn't move and knew that she looked like a doll or a statue.
- "What a delightful song, little one. This old servant of the Empire thanks you for entertaining him."
He bowed and went his way.
- "Umikaze! Come here!"
Sarevok was crouching and laughing at the child, who took a few determined, if wobbly and clumsy steps, frowning and biting her lip in deep concentration. When she reached her uncle, she collapsed into his arms and laughed.
- "Sal...Salefok!" she giggled, and the large man lifted her high into his arms.
The people around them were smiling too. They were refugees of war, and there was not much joy in their life on these arid plains, an uncertain future ahead of them and huddled together in makeshift shelters. Still, the child, oblivious to the evils of the world, made them think of the hope everpresent in the hearts of men, and it was also moving how she was not at all afraid of the giant of a man with the glowing eyes like molten gold.
- "The regiments up north are still holding up from what I hear," Peri said. "Seems that Chen is doing well. But the Khan has penetrated the wall from everywhere south of there, and they are advancing inland. So, perhaps she will get her empire. After the dust settles and the corpses are taken away, is it any worse than what they have now?"
- "Violent change tends to be dangerous," Winski said. "And I would shudder to think if all the knowledge and literature gathered in this ancient empire would be destroyed, and all the art, and architecture. Though the Khan seems not to be out for mindless destruction. It is the human lives she seems to find expendable."
- "Yeah, like the Shou leaders so care," Peri snorted.
Sarevok raised his eyebrow.
- "Do I detect defensiveness? Met a kindred spirit? Well, apart from the mass murderer part."
- "Perhaps I did, bro. And as you recall, it is not that a mass murderer would have been the furthest option for me."
Imoen looked shocked but said nothing.
- "Well. It's not like it is our problem any more," Peri said. "We are about halfway to Lo'Shan."
Lo'Shan was the port city they were traveling to, Shou Lung's main route to Kozakura and Wa.
- "According to my sources the nature is less harsh in Sheng Ti - it is rice farming land, rolling hills and deep caverns, large hengeyokai communities," Winski said.
- "The shapechangers? Cool!" Imoen exclaimed. "What would I be if I was one, do you think?"
- "A pink chipmunk!" Peri and Sarevok replied in unison.
