When Kanuk returned from hunting, he found a summons from his father waiting for him. It was a rare event the patriarch could take time to see him. He was usually off on some expedition or another, often guiding herb gatherers from the sects through dangerous stretches of wilderness that only he and Elder Jaraq had ever even traversed. Those few days when he was back in the city, Kanuk was often out, hunting or mapping some new region for the clan.

  Even still, he knew his father well enough to tell his mood. When he walked into the patriarch’s study, the behemoth of a man was pacing, reaching over his shoulder and squeezing the handle of his huge metal club over and over. The muscles in his father’s neck were gripping against themselves, tense. It was a look Kanuk hadn’t seen on him for a year. It was a very specific look for the usually relaxed, easy-going head of the clan. It meant he thought someone might be dead.

  Kanuk’s throat caught. His mind moved into motion. Who did he know was here? It wouldn’t be either of the twins. They might be the weakest disciples the clan had, but they hung around the city most of the time, avoiding any dangerous assignments. Could it be Da Waska? He wasn’t around. Then again, if he was missing, the patriarch wouldn’t be summoning Kanuk. It had to be a junior disciple, except there weren’t any.

  The last time Kanuk had been summoned by his father and seen him looking like this, he’d been sent to find his junior disciple by one year. Da Vefa. She’d been his best friend his whole life and an incredible cultivator besides. He’d been convinced she would surpass him in no time and had been working himself to the bone to prevent that. He’d expected that she would be pushing him forward his whole life. Even after his father had sent him out, he never thought for a second he wouldn’t find her at her campfire. He’d actually been looking forward to catching up and sharing a meal with her. Then Kanuk found her, broken and mutilated in the forest. Wounds on the back of her neck had indicated a demonic beast had ambushed her from behind, giving her no chance. More than a year later, he was still struggling to move past that. For a long time, he’d stopped cultivating entirely.

  Tsem or Raej. It only made sense, but Kanuk’s heart squeezed at both possibilities. He’d known Raej his whole life. He was like Kanuk’s little cousin and a friend. He’d been Vefa’s too. When they were all young, and Waska had just joined as a disciple of the Da clan, Raej had tagged along behind him and Vefa, always upsetting the balance of whatever game they played. If he found Raej like he’d found Vefa, he had no idea what he’d tell Waska.

  Tsem. Well, Tsem reminded him of Vefa. He hated thinking it because they were two completely different people, but there was something there in Tsem’s core. He had the same drive to him, the same desire to get stronger. The same idealism too. Vefa hadn’t met the second milestone as a hunter and joined the Da clan because she’d grown up with Kanuk. She’d wanted to make their side of Sumoon city a place more prosperous place. Kanuk saw that same kind of strong idealism in Tsem, not quite the same, a different flavor, but close. Kanuk had wanted his new friend to join the clan almost from the moment he’d met him.

  No matter who it was, this was not going to be easy. Kanuk couldn’t see this ending well. He wanted to, but he just couldn’t. Not after last time. “Who?”

  His father turned to him, his hands falling to his sides. He caught the break, the hitch in Kanuk’s voice and his eyes softened in guilt. “I never wanted to place this burden on you again, son.”

  “I can take care of this. I’m a disciple of the Da clan.”

  His father looked at him gravely, his hands twitching at his sides. He would have gone himself if he didn’t have promises to fulfill. He’d probably go anyway if there was nobody else to send. “’Da’ is just a name my friends and I came up with. Its what we do with it that matters.”

  Kanuk had heard those words plenty of times before, an almost annoying amount of times. He braced himself. “Who?”

  “Your friend, Tsem. We believe he was hunting either a gold pinfish or a dusento.” The patriarch eyes held fire.

  Kanuk swallowed hard. Elder Goro must have believed in Tsem to show him the bounty list. He could imagine how the elder was feeling. He was the one who trained all the disciples. It was him who had to balance how much risk each disciple faced. It was him who kept detailed notes on every disciple’s condition, and their cultivation. Kanuk knew he did the same for the clan’s hunters too. When Vefa had died, Kanuk had raged at the man. He’d taken it out on him. That was unfair though. Even the old man couldn’t control the rhythm of the world.

  “I’ll bring him back.”

  With that, Kanuk turned and left. He would not waste a breath until his friend was safe, or—Kanuk saw Vefa’s body again, a reminder from his qi—recovered. He ran out, burning qi. If time was an issue, Kanuk would not be able to live with himself if he didn’t arrive on time. He knew where to start, at least. Perhaps even better than the elders, he knew where he needed to go, who he needed to find.

  …

  Kanuk didn’t find the divine beast, it found him. A dark shadow passed in the trees above, almost easy to miss in the dark night. Kanuk bowed low. “Greetings honored elder. I am Da Kanuk, and I’ve come in search of a mutual friend.”

  If his father had known Kanuk was meeting with a divine beast of this power, there was no doubt he would’ve come along. Just like the patriarch, Valesin’s qi made him feel invincible, like nothing in the world could uproot or shake him. Obviously, that wasn’t true. Kanuk’s father was shakable, and the hiss that came on the wind told him this was not a pleased basilisk.

  “Your clan…gave Tsem…his cultivation style…yes?” A great head appeared, lowered down from a tree high above.

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  Kanuk stayed bowed low, sweating. He didn’t know what the cultivation style could have to do with Tsem being missing, but he wasn’t about to pick a fight. “Yes, honored elder.”

  “Humans are not supposed to grow feathers…right?”

  “Um…no. That would be bad.” A pit opened in Kanuk’s heart. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. How could you be so reckless, Tsem. What were you thinking?

  Valesin shook its head sadly. “I had hopes to teach Tsem more…I thought he might glean what I have failed to…given time. A werebeast makes for a poor….student though.”

  A weight fell on Kanuk’s chest. It was what he thought then. Werebeasts were humans, or really any animal he supposed, whose jing had become irrevocably damaged and twisted. They took on characteristics, usually quite random, often harmful, from whatever had messed with their jing, their self-defining energy. They…were usually no better, no more intelligent than demonic beasts. It was a horrible fate, but…

  “Do you know where he is? How bad is he?

  Metallic blades popped up and down along the snake’s neck. “I cannot…go to him. I cannot see…him. I am…refused by the ruins. Go to…the mountain’s gate. Find him…if there is yet a person..to find.”

  …

  Kanuk stared wide-eyed as he felt a powerful presence step out onto the riverbank. He pulled his spear off his back, but thought better of it a moment later. The ascended Uvarian Bladebear felt stronger than most. Somewhere in the middle of grade four he’d guess. It was too risky for him to fight. He’d be at a serious disadvantage. The bladebear wasn’t exactly going to give him a chance to flee though. It had summoned stone qi armor all over its body and its claws that pulsed with potent qi. Worst of all, it stood between him and his friend.

  Kanuk pulled a second vest from his pack, making sure it was fit tightly around him. He could feel the power contained within. He did not back down from it.

  The da clan’s manual of a thousand skins contained their signature technique. It was not though, anything like the techniques of most other clans. It was not an external qi technique, or really a qi technique at all. It was shamanism, long passed down by those who had lived on the frontier, even before any had taken to calling it that. It made use of a cultivator’s jing.

  That was why Tsem’s cultivation manual had called for the consumption of demonic beast meat. It was supposed to gradually temper him. It would have, but Tsem must have made a mistake somewhere, got too reckless. His qi again showed him Vefa’s body. This might be different. He might be alive. He couldn’t see it, not really. He’d convinced himself his friend was still alive a year ago. She hadn’t been. He’d never been given a chance to save her.

  Kanuk reached out with his jing to his vest, to the skin of an agathella, a mammoth grade 3 demonic beast. He felt the remnant will still there and he connected with it, forming a bridge through which qi could flow. At the same time, Kanuk cycled his own yang qi through his twelve purified meridians, burning it for the speed he needed to charge right at the roaring bladebear before him.

  At the last second, the instant before he was crushed by the far stronger beast, Kanuk pulled demonic qi and the strength of an agathella into his skin. With his own qi burning and the agathella’s foreign jing and demonic qi twisting in carefully managed patterns through his body, just for a moment, he reached a level of physical strength far eclipsing anything a normal cultivator of his stage could hope for.

  Kanuk’s hands grasped the ascended bladebear’s massive arms, straining. For a moment they stayed locked, but just as the strength from his infusion was about to run out, he threw one of the clawed hands aside with a roar of his own.

  He dashed past, diving into the river, infusing himself with a small bit of speed from the ghalri raptor feathers woven into his hair. It wasn’t much, but he was still shaken from the connection with the agathella. He’d need days of meditation to ensure he didn’t suffer from any ill effects from infusing himself with its strength. It had been a risk just to try it. Mistakes in infusion, bad enough mistakes, could put him in the same position as Tsem.

  No. Kanuk reminded himself. Tsem is probably already dead.

  A minute later, Kanuk emerged into the basin the ruins sat in. Despite himself, despite the situation, he stared in awe at the dark stone structure so close to him. It called to him like it had for years. He’d never come close though. He’d always been strictly forbidden from approaching.

  “Welcome to the Mountain’s gate, Seeker.” Barely a whisper, he didn’t hear it though, not exactly. It felt like it came from all around him, some kind of impression from the world itself. In the distance, a scream of pain sounded. For a moment, it sounded almost human, a moment in which Kanuk’s hopes soared. It didn’t last. The pained scream took on the qualities of an inhuman screech, like an enormous bird.

  Kanuk rushed around the ruins towards the source, his heart in his throat. He rounded them, qi burning in body, giving him speed. He needed to know. To know if there was anything left of his friend.

  Please still be in there. Kanuk could see his friend, and it was bad. In front of the curved stairs that led into the ruins themselves, he walked around, head twisting towards the sky. Muscles were ripped out of place and bulked up. His whole right arm had been twisted into what looked like a poorly formed massive talon. Blue and brown feathers sprouted from him in clumps, even from his face which was nearly unrecognizable. His left arm was about the only thing unchanged, and he idly spun a leather net between his fingers.

  Kanuk took a hesitant step forward, then another, afraid of what he’d see when Tsem looked at him. Afraid he’d ee nothing but the eyes of a demonic beast looking at him.

  Eventually, when Kanuk had come nearly within arms reach, Tsem looked down. One eye was unmistakably that of a ghalri raptor, the other…was grown over, what looked like a beak growing from him. For a moment, just a moment, there was something in that completely changed eye. Not much, but something.

  A caw of challenge came from his friend’s mouth, fueled by internal qi, but coming out partially broken, produced from vocal chords that weren’t made for that sound. The talon arm punched out in a sweep, moving faster than Kanuk would have expected.

  What did you do? Kanuk asked again. Judging by the amount of qi burning in Tsem’s body, he must have purified four meridians. That was crazy. Kanuk had seen him just a month ago and he’d barely purified one. It should have taken him most of a year to get to this stage. Why? Did you not read your cultivation manual?

  It didn’t matter, not in that moment. Tsem was faster and stronger than Kanuk had expected, but still far slower and weaker than he was. It was easy to sidestep his attacks, easy to avoid when he threw that net of his around wildly. That didn’t get him anywhere though.

  “Tsem.” Kanuk called. “Wake up.”

  No response except for a talon slashing at his face,

  “Tsem.”

  Nothing in that eye of his except the bloodthirsty visage of a demonic beast. What should he do? This wasn’t something that was supposed to happen. Nobody in his clan had ever gone this far before. Could he even be brought back. Kanuk knew their were methods, but they all required the cultivator to be lucid, to be capable of fighting back. He could maybe coach Tsem through what little he knew, but that would only work if Tsem were still in there somewhere, and even then…

  “Tsem!” Kanuk shouted at the raging abomination, qi amplifying his voice, not caring if some demonic beast. He ducked another swipe, putting his arm around his friend. “Please remember.”

  No response. He was gone, just as gone as Vefa had been. No. It was a quiet, insistent voice from deep inside him, from someone immensely stubborn, someone idealistic to a fault, someone who was pushing him. It was what Vefa would have told him, had she been here. He’s still alive. There was something there, even just for a moment. It was gone though. Perhaps he’d seen nothing, perhaps he’d arrived to see the very last flicker of his friend’s life. This was something else before him now.

  No. Kanuk moved away from Tsem, avoiding another throw of that net. His junior was burning qi for speed now, or at least the abomination that had taken over was. Dodging was nothing compared to the struggle inside himself. Was he still there or not?

  Eventually, it was Vefa’s voice that won out. She had always got her way, even for something this crazy. One fairy tale from the Da clan’s small library, that was what he was going on here, what Vefa’s voice was pushing him towards trying. It was crazy. If it didn’t work out, he’d share Tsem’s fate. Even so. Kanuk pulled his friend close, arm around him, restraining him.

  He reached out, forming a bridge between them, like he was trying to infuse himself with Tsem’s strength. Only, Tsem wasn’t dead. There was more here to deal with than residual will. The abomination pitted its qi against his, resisting as any being would, the invasion of its self.

  As the connection was made, the bridge complete, the world went dark.