home

search

Confluence: Chapter 37 - Changing Fates

  Yu Chen looked down, surveying the wreckage of the ship that had dug into the muddy banks. It creaked, listing to one side but barely hanging on. The shredded sails draped like limp rags across the shattered mast that had torn through the deck. Some sections of the ship were simply missing, while others were riddled like honeycomb, filled with holes left behind by the beast’s strange attacks.

  The raindrops hadn’t simply carved through the vessel, the strange concepts within them had weakened the metal, making it brittle to the touch. Doubtless part of the reason the mast had created so much devastation.

  “Is everyone ok?” Yu Chen croaked out; his own words deaf to his ears.

  Serbo au Serbo opened his mouth, grunting something from across the ship, but whatever he said fell on deaf ears. The large man looked around him before turning away and glaring in the direction the beast had disappeared.

  Sun Yuan didn’t reply. He stood nearby, hands on the wheel, a shell-shocked expression on his face. His forehead was streaked with dust and blood, but he paid it no mind, staring around in grief at the damaged ship. Yu Chen averted his gaze. It was unlikely the Lady would ever sail again. Yan Ziqi was a skilled artificer, but fixing this… well, that would require a miracle.

  A pile of rubble shifted nearby, revealing the artificer as he pushed his way free. Blood ran from his temple, but he stood up, wavering on his feet. At least he was alive. Yu Chen nodded at him, turning to look for Xue Lan and the young swordsman.

  He frowned when he didn’t see them, before recalling they’d gone below deck.

  Below deck!

  Alarm shot through Yu Chen as he looked at the shattered mast piercing through to the lower deck. He wasted no time, hopping off the quarterdeck and taking the stairs two at a time as he ran below.

  “Xue Lan!” He called out with a cough as he inhaled the dust swirling through the air. Fear laced his voice as he peered down the corridor, looking for his friend. He couldn’t hear his own words, let alone a reply so he pushed on, opening the doors one by one as he passed.

  Every room was empty, dread building in his heart as he approached the wreckage with no sign of Xue Lan. Fearing the worst, he stopped, taking a deep breath before pushing open the last door beside the rubble to reveal a room that was half destroyed.

  Xue Lan was there. Relief flooded him as the girl lifted her head, looking at him with red, puffy eyes. Clear streaks ran down her cheeks, trails left behind by the tears that covered her dust-streaked face. He frowned, his eyes dropping from her face to her hand, and the one clutched within.

  He followed that hand to an arm that disappeared somewhere beneath the rubble.

  “Oh, no. No, no, no.” he said, falling to his knees beside Xue Lan. “I’m so sorry.”

  If she heard his words she didn’t reply, squeezing the broken hand harder as she sobbed.

  Yu Chen looked over, considering the pile of rubble. He shook his head. There was simply no way the young man was still alive beneath the weight of half the deck and the mast itself.

  With a sigh he wrapped the young girl in a hug, a long moment passing as she shuddered in his arms.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Yun Luo Qing was having a bad day.

  Of course, few of her days were ever truly bad. Her life was luxurious, for the most part, if rather simple. No, her day was bad for an entirely different reason. Sometimes the temple asked her to read the future of someone she’d really rather not.

  Like the man standing before her now.

  An imposing man, wrapped in black robes. He was tall and brooding, and handsome. Very handsome if she was being honest, with his aquiline nose and his sharp brows, irresistible to those attracted to darkness and danger. He was calculated, powerful, strong.

  Very strong. His cultivation had grown since the last time she’d seen him, far faster than was reasonable for his age. She mentally reevaluated, his position rising several notches in her mind.

  Tiang Sheng had shown him in, even treating him with some respect. The high priest had told her the man was destined for greatness, she wasn’t inclined to disagree. Not after what she’d seen last time.

  She’d only met him once before, but a single glimpse into his future had been enough to shake her.

  Her stomach turned as the memories flashed through her mind. Destined for greatness he might be, but at what cost? The path he carved across the world was a bloody one. Who knew how much suffering might be avoided if she simply ended his life now?

  She knew.

  She’d peered into his future, counting the bodies that lay at his feet as she helped him navigate the tumultuous waves of destiny. She’d seen exactly how much death, how much destruction, this man would bring to the world.

  The temple didn’t care however, which meant she didn’t either. Her hand twitched in her lap, moving involuntarily.

  They were morally agnostic, offering her services to anyone who had the coin, regardless of how much disgust they filled her with. Coins, after all, were an apt metaphor, as Tiang Sheng had explained to her more than once. Good, evil, both were simply constructs of man, two sides of a single coin like the sorrow that accompanied joy, and the death that followed life.

  Nothing walked alone. The existence of this implied the existence of that, and they didn’t exist to judge the relative value of things like some merchants. Privately Qing’er couldn’t help but notice they found a way to attach a price tag to her.

  But that was uncharitable. The temple needed the funds to operate.

  She thrust the thoughts away, tilting her head as she observed the man. The priceless jewels hanging across her veil bounced against one another, tinkling musically as she shifted in her seat.

  “You’ve returned once more.” She said, her voice light and ethereal. A quirk of her finger caused the smoke laying close to the floor to rise, swirling through entrancing patterns that appeared mysterious in the dim light.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  She used to think it was silly, but time had shown her the elders were right. Her powers required a willing participant, and such tricks were marvelous for priming their mind.

  “Yes, your excellency.” The man said, bowing his head as he knelt to one knee.

  She rolled her eyes at his words, not that he could tell from below the dais. It was always amusing when they offered her feigned respect. Perhaps they thought there was something to gain from currying her favor, or perhaps they thought she expected as such.

  They should have known better. She didn’t have to wonder what they thought, she knew. She knew them intimately, oftentimes better than they knew themselves. Peering into someone’s fate was no different from reading a book, except the story was of someone’s life, what they would or would not be, determined by the actions that they made.

  And it was those choices that showed her their nature, allowing her to know it as intimately as her own. She knew every step he’d made, having walked in his shoes as he made the thousand, thousand choices that had brought him back to her today.

  It was funny, she mused, how often fate brought them back. But perhaps it was inevitable.

  “Why?” She asked, leaning forward.

  He looked up, meeting her eyes with two black orbs that sunk into his severe face. His eyes unsettled her. They were strange, alien things, pure black and unlike anything she’d ever seen before.

  “To seek your guidance, Child of Fate.” He said, bowing his head with a sweep of his hand. The words were gentle and elegant, at odds with the monster she knew him to be. “The events you spoke of have come to pass. The balance on the river has shifted, and Bai Lian grows in power.” He looked back up, fixing her with his gaze. “But certain things have changed. The Domain fragment has escaped her grasp, disappearing the gods know where.”

  She leaned forward, her jewels tinkling as she moved. “There are ramifications for interfering with fate. You’ve peered at destiny once, and now fortune has reshuffled the cards.”

  “A good thing I did.” He said, his tone warm, something nearing affection entering his voice. “I almost lost my life in that tiny little empire. Who knew they’d possess such a good thing?”

  His voice was low, seductive. Almost possessive. “Other than you of course. What else do you know, I wonder?” A hint of hunger lurked in his black eyes as he stared up at her.

  She didn’t reply. A shift of her finger, and the fires in the braziers flared to life. The man shrunk back, fear on his face.

  Enough of these charades. Another movement and the lights dimmed, despite the burning fires that hung around the room.

  “Time grows short,” It did no such thing, “and the winds of fate are shifting.” they always were, it was hardly notable. “Speak your desires so I might show you your destiny.”

  “The Domain fragment.” The man said, quick and eager. “Where can I find it?”

  She shook her head, the jewels crowning her veil tinkling softly. “I can only show you that which is in your future. If your destinies are not intertwined your trip will be wasted.”

  The man shook his head impatiently.

  “I know,” he said, his voice filled with conviction. “But I will have my hands on it one way or another.”

  She nodded.

  It was one of the more common uses of her oracular skills. After all, if you only knew where you were destined to find your lover, or your enemy, or that item that you lost, what was to stop you from showing up just a little bit earlier?

  Perhaps he was destined to encounter that item one day, in some hidden realm or a far away land. And if he knew where he would encounter it, or who he would encounter… Well, destiny had been changed with less.

  It wasn’t something so special. Fate and destiny changed every day, for a million people in a million ways. She was hardly the only oracle around, or the only way someone could glimpse the future. They were ever-changing, and it was understanding what she saw that set her apart.

  A silence stretched, filling the room.

  She was putting it off, as she tended to do when dealing with his sort. The fog in the room deepened as the thick incense in the braziers burned, filling the room with a heady scent.

  She inhaled deeply, circulating her qi as she activated her breathing technique. A dense aura unfurled as power raced through her meridians, fueling the expansion of her Domain.

  Well, her False Domain, her powers hadn’t fully matured.

  A ghostly river sprung into being, twisting around her, far different from the one that graced the world below. No, this river didn’t represent a place but a time, trailing into the far future and the distant past. Her aura billowed out, a hint of resistance appearing as it encountered the man.

  He bared himself, willfully entering her domain.

  A wave of her hand sent the ghostly river flowing forward to pierce through his heart. He fell to his knees with a gasp, and if he was anyone else his eyes would be all white, peering into the back of his head.

  The river shot out of his back and rose, quivering in the air. It was different now, the ghostly waters no longer calm and smooth. Faces and images had appeared, pressing against the surface of the water as though fighting to be free. They were the infinite possibilities of his future laid bare, some more or less certain, but constantly shifting as the world changed around them.

  She beckoned, and the river turned, leaping at her like a child to its mother. It struck her, and her eyes rolled back as the circuit completed, cutting the man’s fate off from the rest of the world.

  The room and the river disappeared, as the man’s future filled her vision, static and unchanging. This was the path he would take once he left the temple, if nothing else were done. Scenes flashed, one after the other as the man’s life played out.

  Stepping into a portal as she left the temple.

  Flash.

  A rousing speech given before hundreds of ships.

  Flash.

  Moaning in the depths of the night as a beautiful woman writhed beneath her.

  Flash.

  A meeting with that same woman and half a dozen others. A cold man glared at her from across the table, twins standing at his back.

  Flash.

  War.

  Flash.

  Blood.

  Flash.

  Death.

  Flash.

  There it was, the Domain fragment. She floated above half a dozen ships, the beautiful woman at her side. A powerful spearman attacked, and a ferocious battle erupted, bringing a bloody end to many lives.

  Betrayal. The spider sank in her fangs when she was distracted. Pain. Death. She survived, but crippled. She looked down at the Domain fragment in her hand. Crippled, but more powerful.

  Flash. Flash. Flash.

  She walked in his shoes as the man’s life continued playing out, but an ache began to build, her powers stretching towards their limits the further she viewed. She summoned her will, beginning to cut off the stream - but.

  Flash.

  What was that? Her heart skipped a beat. Ignoring the pain in her soul she forcefully pushed against the river, returning to the previous vision.

  There. The frame paused, her heart thumping uncontrollably as she looked at the unyielding figure floating across from her in the sky.

  He was older now, the rough beginnings of a beard on his face, his white robes were pristine, and of an ancient cut. There were other changes as well, and she took in every one of them like a man denied thirst given water for the first time. His teeth were longer, his nails thicker and his irises flashed with a golden light, barely visible through the narrow slit they’d formed.

  A strange creature flew about his head, vibrantly striped, exuding a terrifying aura of its own. Although it was nothing compared to his. His aura roiled, thumping like a beating drum as his blood sang, more ancient than the robes he wore.

  He’d changed, he’d changed so much, but she would recognize him anywhere.

  The man she was riding opened his mouth, saying something, and the young man replied, making a sharp cutting motion with his hand. His tone resonated, deeper and more subtle.

  Nothing more was said. Battle erupted between the two, both sides fighting with a matchless fury. The river churned beneath them as they sent powerful attacks crashing down upon each other.

  The young man fought well, holding her off for a time, even landing an attack or two, but it was pointless. The fragment had solidified her Domain, and it erupted around her, True and complete.

  His friends shot into the sky, rising up to join him. One by one they fell, until only he remained, last, like he was first.

  She reached out a hand, twisting, and he fell as well.

  No! A part of her silently protested. This wasn’t how it went! She’d peered into both of their futures, and she knew the two had never encountered, not even close.

  What has changed?

  A feeling of guilt overwhelmed her as she realized what had happened. It was her, she thought, her mind whirling in panic. She’d intervened, meddling in both of their destinies, and now they were on a collision course with fate, one the young man wouldn’t survive.

  It was all her fault.

  She snapped back to herself, panting as she gasped for air with rough, jagged breaths.

  “Is something wrong?” The handsome man asked, looking towards her with a sense of concern that never reached his eyes.

  “I’m fine.” She said, waving off his concern. “Your future is greater than most, making it more difficult to parse.”

  It was a simple lie, but one easily believed. After all, everyone wanted to believe they were special.

  It wouldn’t be the only lie she told today.

  She wouldn’t be responsible for his death.

Recommended Popular Novels