I examined my body closely. My undead, yet still somewhat beautiful body. The cold flesh. The unshining fur. Was it still beautiful? My faith might have been shaken, but yes, objectively, of course it was. Even in this sorry, undead state I was lovely. The shape of me, the tilt of my ears, my tail, my whiskers, my toes. I was particularly fond of my whiskers. And within, my core a dim private star. Not the nova it had been, but a work of art nonetheless.

  I orbited it, and it gave me hope. The light was subdued, yes, the threads of fire qi barely a glowing ember, the sunlight barely there, but this allowed the other elements to shine. They had beauty as well, the coiling mists, the loam-scented earth, the deep, deep peaceful green strands of forest qi forest. My star friends’ precious light. Breezy air. The silvery shimmer of Moon. All of them were incredible.

  However, I could not deny I was lesser. Being a draugr gave me a feral strength that I had not had before but… that was all. It was hardly a balanced trade. Acknowledging this made me feel lighter. I did not have to pretend.

  Absorbed in my thoughts, I was dimly aware of the wind whispering between the branches, somewhere, outside my mind. A mournful, sorrowful sound that did not come from my lungs. How could it?

  I sank deeper into my meditation, examining my body, piece by piece, until, at last, I was looking at my heart. Or rather the remains of my heart. What was left - battered, broken, cold, the meridian still clogged with impurities, and sad, shadowy feelings. I poked at them, more out of habit than anything else. A tiny bit crumbled, and drifted away. I watched it go, thoughtfully, regarding the impurities that were left. Not so much now. I was on the brink of a breakthrough.

  My undead cultivation leant me the ability to emulate life, air qi instead of breath, water qi instead of saliva, sun qi instead of a warm beating heart, but perhaps… an imitation of life was not enough? Or not right? My past lives, my past body, had been wonderful, but this was who I was now. I had mourned, I would continue to mourn but I no longer wanted to chase the ghosts of the past. I wanted to lay them to rest like I had helped the villagers to peace.

  Imitation, mimicry would do no good here. I had to be true to who I was now. The way ahead would be different, things would never be as they were. There was a possibility that I would never dream again. This thought hurt, piercing me though with a lance of deep, bitter, icy regret.

  And yet…and yet… If I had all my lives to live over I would do it all again, exactly as before. Looking back there was nothing I would change. Nothing substantial at any rate. I had done my absolute best, I had protected my loved ones. My friends, my home, my Maud. I had fought rats and horrible two-leggers. I had climbed mountains and had adventures, made friends with spirits and monsters. I had sung to the Moon.

  I was proud of the journey I had made. My lives had been well spent. There was nothing to regret. Well, not nothing but very little.

  It was just that now I was in a new phase of existence. A new cycle.

  I opened my eyes.

  My field of view was full of shadow cat.

  The spirit of death was sitting so close to me now that our noses were almost touching, his whiskers dark and full. His nose was softest midnight velvet.

  “Are you ready?” He asked.

  “Yes,” I said, and I started to cultivate.

  I drew death qi into me, the deep black lines floating through my veins with surprising ease. But then, I was dead. This was now my natural element. Perhaps I had always known it, and had just forgotten with the shock of everything that had happened recently?

  The process had none of the awkwardness I had experienced with the other elements since my ninth death. The qi flowed as it was meant. Easy, fluid, liquid. An immense weight lifted from my shoulders as I cultivated. I was complete, at peace, a part of the world around me. My body made sense again. We were united once more.

  Death was not unnatural, death had purpose, and so did I.

  The spool of death qi wound into my dantian, pitch black and lovely. Waiting. Waiting for me. Waiting for my new life to begin. Waiting for me to become who I was meant to be…but what could I do with it? How would I use it?

  I opened my mouth to ask my new friend.

  As I did so, the blockage in my heart meridian eased, broke, the last remaining pieces flowing away. Power gushed through my channels in an ecstatic flood.

  “Jenkins!”

  Thimble came racing through the ferns with Hush on his heels, Moeee soaring above him, silver and gleaming, still only half healed. My new friend vanished.

  Lightning cracked overhead.

  “Quickly Jenkins!”

  An immense BOOM shook the forest.

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  “What is it?”

  “Mama,” yelled Hush. “Hurry, Hurry! The Troll Tavern- we need to get there-”

  My siblings leapt River and charged through the undergrowth on the other side. I cursed, and leapt after them, dashing between the trees. Towards the Tavern, and all those still living souls.

  “Goodluck!” River shouted from behind from me.

  “Thank you!” I yelled back.

  Another crackle of lightning sizzled, illuminating the passing tree trunks in a blaze of white. This storm had arrived quickly, I thought, as I hurtled along, following close behind the bobbing fluff of Thimble’s tail. Although, it was true, I had been lost in my meditation for quite some time.

  Another blinding flash, another boom. We ran together, speeding through the wet forest. I kept cultivating as I ran, since I had a feeling I would need each and every bit. My head was still full, trying to process the events of the last few minutes. Power was surging through every part of me, making it a little hard to focus. I had just opened my heart meridian...

  I had just opened my heart meridian.

  That meant-

  “Guys,” I said, as we ran.“I think- I think I am about to undergo another tribulation, like, right now. I just unblocked my-.”

  Lightning illuminated their shocked faces. A nearby strike. Very nearby.

  “Right now?” Moeee shouted.

  “RIGHT NOW!”

  Lightning forked to the earth, exploding directly ahead of us. The world turned white as we went tumbling in different directions, sprayed with bits of rock and loam. The smell of scorched earth singed my lungs.

  “Go on ahead,” I bellowed over the rising roar of the wind, staggering up, shaking my head to clear my vision. “I’ll come as soon as I can-”

  “No,” yelled Hush. “We need you if we are to-”

  BOOM. We scattered.

  The wind reached fever pitch, loud I dared not look up, fearing what I would see. A violent gust of wind dashed Moeee against a trunk, and lifted the rest of us off our feet, sending us tail over toes before smashing us hard, into a grove of birches.

  “What the-”

  As I fell to the ground I caught a peek of the churning sky.

  “Run, run run!” I shouted. We fled, the wind propelling us forward with so much force it was a struggle to stay upright.

  “Is that a dragon?” screamed Thimble.

  “Two dragons!” I screamed back.

  The first was familiar: the storm dragon I had fought on my last tribulation, eyes glittering with incandescent menace, white-tipped scales rippling, as it pulsed its way through the turbulent skies. The second…. the second dragon was a creature of fear and darkness, coiling in malevolent, dark twists, a great shadow dragon made, if I was not mistaken, of death qi.

  Terror leant me wings.

  This time, there were no fat baby toad rain drops. Biting, howling air sprites roared towards me, gaping maws, puffed out cheeks and long wriggling, snake-like bodies cracking against mine like a whip whenever I faltered. We all flew screaming onward, a thousand tiny teeth gnashing, gnashing on my hide.

  It took all my skill and energy to steer between the trees, to avoid crashing headfirst into a tree or rock. My siblings and Moeee were fighting likewise. Moeee had the most skill in the air, while the rest of us, well, we did our best. I misjudged and slammed my face into the ground more than once, flinging myself sideways before the shrieking winds catapulted me forward once more, my limbs flailing. The storm dragon peppering us with lightning strikes did not make the task easier. The strikes were getting closer, the near misses more frequent.

  Rocks and trees, cracked and splintered.

  Seared bark, flame, precious flame, instantly extinguished by the roaring gale which left the fire spirits breathless. No time to snatch any fire qi.

  An ear shattering roar shook the forest.

  The sound of cracking timbers and falling trees mingled with the rage of the heavenly dragons. They were getting larger. Closer. The dragons. They were coming down, their slathering jaws growing larger, huge eyes, each scale individually visible.

  “What is happening?” screamed Thimble.

  Lower, lower, enormous, serpentine bellies scraped the treeline, leaving a trail of broken pines in their wake. They were immense. They were coming closer by the second. Blotting out the sky, the wrath of heaven was hunting me on the ground.

  “Get away!” I shrieked. “GO!” This time the others listened, fleeing with wide, panic stricken eyes.

  I lost sight of them a moment later. Good. With them gone I could focus on my survival.

  Dancing to the side, I narrowly avoided sizzling bolts of energy one after the other. The noise was stupendous. Over my shoulder I glimpsed the storm dragon knocking aside trees like blades of grass. Where was the shadow dragon? Ah - it was travelling through the trees like the shadow it was. Dark eyes fixed on me. What would it do if it caught me?

  I had to get away or my tale would end here, impaled on one of those glinting teeth as big as trunks, or swallowed by gaping maws the size of barns.

  A particularly violent gust sent me tumbling, and I saw them - intertwined as they flew, circling each other in a deadly dance that had one and only one focus: me.

  Terror gripped me like never before.

  I ran in mindless panic. I could not outrun them. How could I outrun them? They were heavenly serpents sent from the sky. I did my best, dodging the lightning and tensing for the attack that I knew must be coming. The shadow dragon was playing with me. Taunting me.

  A bolt of lightning sizzled past my ear, I jumped away, and then back after it had passed. A twinge of anger sparked in my chest. I would not be herded like a sheep. Like a mouse, like a wretched squeaker-

  A new sound rumbled behind me, setting the ground bouncing. The bark on the trees that whizzed by exploding in a hail of sap and splinters.

  Risking a peek behind, I saw only gaping darkness, as the maws of the giant shadow dragon engulfed me and I was swallowed whole.