Chapter Seven: Careen

Standing in the ruined atrium of Asena's Temple, with its once proud walls detailing its history in shambles on the cold and blood-stained ground, a lone crane stared at the sun and watched as if waiting for an opportunity. This crane, like most of its kind, was lanky in nature and tall; its head making up the majority of its mass. Its legs, like that of bamboo, were strong and flexible; its feet, poised and ready, casually spread next to the body of a dead monk, that of a wolf. The wings, black, stretched almost double its torso. The crown on the top of the head, frizzled and brown like a bush, was singed, burn wounds just before it indicating its origins.

"Raslin" the crane exclaimed, "Raslin, get over here!"

Raslin Do, a jumping mouse, suddenly came from around the corner. As far as members of his species went, with a face that would be considered edible and a tail as long as his body, it was almost inconceivable that he was part of this band of marauders, but here he was, participating just as much as any of the others.

"Yes Great One?" Raslin replied as he came forward, timing his hops perfectly so as to intentionally step on the bodies of the dead, "What can good Raslin do for you?"

The crane turned around sharply and bit the air, threateningly, at the same time causing the mouse to jump slightly.

"Which part of the phrase: 'assassinate the head priest discreetly' did you find so damn difficult? Was it the assassination part, the head priest part, or the discreetly part?"

Raslin laughed and shook his head, amused by the question. The crane however, was not laughing, his face demanding a specific answer.

"Well it was dark when it happened-" Raslin declared, trying to defend himself, "Not to mention that he had at least twenty others with him. I did the best I could Careen."

Careen jeered and hissed at the sound of his name, the mention of it like poison to his heart.

"I told you its Xi!" Careen corrected, lifting his wing, preparing to strike, "Now get the bloody hell out of here before I maim you! And get me Chi-la, I need some stimulation."

Raslin nodded and bowed slightly before making his exit, smiling to himself, satisfied that his master was taking some time for himself. As he hopped away, looking for Chi-la, Raslin thought about all the times that he said yes and all the times that he had been ignored; his accomplishments dismissed. After a moment of thought, the mouse, coming to the conclusion that he was a lesser creature in the eyes of creation, resigned himself to the station of servant, furthering his own disillusion.

Careen's advisor, lover, and closest confidant was Chi-la; once a crane like himself, now a condemned and formless spirit, she was easily the most evil person besides Careen that had ever dared to walk the earth. As she entered the room with the self-confidence and vanity of Aphrodite, in her preferred form of a crane, Careen could detected the faint aroma of the incense that hung from the rod that he knew she carried on long excursions.

"Does it really mask the smell of the decaying and the dead?" Careen said, partially joking, "Or are you just toying with me?"

Chi-la laughed and shook her head, amused with Careen's sense of humor. Reaching his side, staring into the distance, the thought of death never crossing her mind, for it no longer mattered, Chi-la could only smile- the destruction of her enemies complete and total.

"Soon all of China shall know the true power of cranes" Chi-la declared, "The Emperor shall bow to you, everything you've ever wanted-"

"Everything that we've ever wanted" Careen corrected, "My ambition is not so great as to blind me from the very thing that started this in the first place. We need to get you back to the living as soon as possible Chi-la. Time is the enemy."

Chi-la smirked and nodded, satisfied with the response and a bit flattered by his answer. It filled her with delightful wickedness, knowing that Careen would go so far, commit heinous atrocities, in order to see her spirit reunited, completely, with her body. Her enemies would be destroyed, Careen would be Emperor, and she, in turn, would have unimaginable power, long sought.

"Then" Careen continued, "And only then, will the Emperor bend to me. I will drop his body from the highest height and watch as it falls to the ground; and as his neck breaks against the sharpest rock the bells of our wedding shall sing and with it a new age: one of our own making, where cranes choose their own destiny."

Chi-la chuckled to herself, indulging herself in Careen's fantasy as she swayed from side to side, ultimately wrapping her body around him; kissing his face lovingly, yet never touching his beak, restraining herself. Breaking away, Careen returned his affection and then glanced one more time at the horizon.

"Come" Careen declared, looking around carefully, as if he were being watched, "It is time we take our leave. Have Raslin round up the others, tell them we're heading out. Someone's bound to come looking eventually."

Chi-la bowed slightly and threw out the incense, waving the last of the fumes away, then, following orders she took her leave. Careen, for his part, made a left down a small hallway, and then a sharp right into a decent sized room. The space, what was once a prayer hall, was now re-purposed as a holding cell; the walls rose high into the sky, culminating into three skylights which shone their dim light into the otherwise dark room. At one end of the hall was a large statue, the aspect of what the locals believed to be Asena, a large wolf the size of a bear. Although the statue appeared threatening, in part because it was of a wolf, in reality, Asena was docile, her ears pointed forward, her right fore-paw extended in apparent submission. Around the neck was a necklace, its significance long lost; at the base of the statue was an engraving: May all who enter here find peace, knowing they are among the pack.

Careen glared across the room, noticing the empty and blood-stained cages, trying to remember those who occupied them. He could still see some of them, most of them villagers, and among them, women and the old. They were ragged and sick, lack of water and food having drove them to near death, a result of the treatment that Careen and his men had put on them. Their screams as they begged for their lives, their souls, unanswered and piercing to the ears, torturous and deafening.

"Brave fools" Careen said to himself, "Brave, pitiful fools who do not know their fate. Pray that we remember you and look fondly upon ye. Let the strikes of our lashes come easy, and if they do not, then pray we kill you quickly."

Walking out of the room and leaving the dismal scene behind, Careen made his way to the courtyard of the temple near the roof; upon reaching it and temporarily blinded by the sun, the crane was pleased to see his force, all cranes save for Raslin, as well as the few villagers they had kept alive, waiting for him. Looking at the scene, and then at sun, Careen slowly walked in the middle of the square, breathed in, and began his piece.

"Brothers and Sisters of the wing, today was not the beginning that I have promised you. No, this is not even close to its imagining. What we have done here today is send a message to all of China that the true Masters of the World have come, Cranes. For too long our people have been used as cheap labor and tossed aside, the Emperor's taxes squandering any chance of upward mobility forcing us into poverty and submission. For too long we have fought in wars and civil wars, only to be branded at best as assets and at worst as traitors and radical militants. Brothers and Sisters of the wing, those days are over! It's time we choose our own destiny, one where we take our rightful places in this world; where we are supreme- because we are supreme!"

With this the entire organization, from the lowest of the grunts to Chi-la herself, let out a victorious yelp that the foundations of the temple shook in its power. As the battalion took its leave, their war cry still emitting through the air and projecting through the trees, the world trembled in fear as the last fires of the brunt village died leaving nothing but ash and soot.