Chapter 310: Chapter 309 - Pitiful Fool

Chapter 309 - Pitiful Fool

Yuzu read the future on the strings.

~

Nilya knelt before the makeshift stone altar, his hands trembling as he held the stone bowl of molten catalyst. The bowl was large enough that he had to support it with both arms. The inside was caked with sediment that had hardened into a porous layer of rock. The actual amount of golden, glowing liquid was no more than a cup.

He recited the prayer to the Sun God that Somm told him, mumbling under his breath. It was only four lines long which he repeated it over and over as instructed.

“Drink.” Somm knelt to the side of the altar facing Nilya.

Nilya stared down into the liquid. An intense heat radiated out from the bowl, hotter than any normal human could bear, but one that only caused mild discomfort for his Exalted body. And yet even as sweat dripped from his chin and sizzled on the hot stone he was shivering terribly.

He didn’t move at the guru-chi’s command. He only stared deep into the molten potion while mumbling the prayer.

He thought about the strange and fantastic journey that he had embarked on over the past months. The day he saw the guru-chi in the swamp, hiding in the reeds so the holy man wouldn’t see him. The night when the white maiden spoke to him for the first time, when he stood up to the guru-chi to protect his sister. The evening when his latent powers had surfaced, when he fought against the guru-chi with inhuman strength. The mysterious potion merchant who sold him the drop of potion for five copper coins that saved his sister’s life. The weeks of mystical training that opened his eyes to the world of Exalted.

He thought about the Trial of Requirement, the misty forest with no way out, the cliffside monastery and the frantic escape from the giant hawks, the crazy battle on top of the cliff, the journey to the heart of the mountain where he had retrieved the Hollow Ember.

There were many times he had felt scared. Many times he had felt lost. Many times he had felt alone. But he had dealt with them the way he had dealt with the troubles in his life— following his heart.

Even when his life was in danger Nilya understood that he was doing something good, something important, though he didn’t quite understand exactly what that important thing was. Something about obtaining the Sun God’s inheritance, something about reviving His kingdom, something about a prophecy.

The details didn’t actually matter to Nilya. He had grown up with nothing and expected nothing. The reward didn’t matter, just the idea that he was doing something important was enough to stave off his doubts and fears.

But this golden liquid was different.

Everything in his body, mind and spirit told him not to drink the liquid. Even as he stared at it he felt as if the hand of death caressing his soul. The voice of his mother haunted his mind.

It was deep into the night when Anya was feverish with the keeper’s gaze. He woke to the sound of sniffling from the main room. The soft voices of his mother and uncle drifted through the hangings that covered the doorway.

He didn’t hear the whole conversation, only a sentence from his weeping mother. His mother who had never cried in front of him in all his memory, who had assured him that Anya would get well soon.

“How many more of my babies will Lord Deka take from me?”

Life was hard. Every Fuhanese person knew this well. Life was a blessing to be cherished, to be nurtured, and to be let go of when the time came.

Nilya didn’t know he had had other brothers and sisters, his mother had never talked about them before.

As he stared into the pool of liquid he thought he saw his mother’s face, a memory of when he left the village. She stood tall on the dirt path wearing her favourite shawl, holding onto his uncle’s arm. She had encouraged Nilya to go to find a better life. There was pride, for sure. But there was also sadness, and thinking about it now, resignation.

If I die here, Nilya found himself wondering, will I see the Lord Deka or Sun God on the other side?

“Drink, Nilya!” Somm commanded.

Nilya instinctively thought to obey the command. His mouth opened but his hands didn’t move. He sat paralyzed in shock. The prayer to the Sun God was now barely a whisper from his lips.

A fear gripped him like none he had experienced before.

Don’t drink. Only one thought remained in his mind, repeating over and over. Don’t drink. Don’t drink.

He was trembling so hard now it looked like he might drop the stone bowl. Even though the bowl shook terribly in his arms the golden liquid remained strangely still. That glowing, molten potion encompassed his entire vision as every cell in his body screamed at him to stop.

He was just about to look away when one stone arm protruded out of his waist and grasped the bowl. Another came out of his shoulder, grabbing his chin and forcing his mouth open.

“Drink!” Somm barked as he forcefully lifted the bowl and emptied the contents into Nilya’s throat.

Nilya felt a tremendous heat surge down into his stomach. All the veins on his body lit up with a golden light beneath his skin. His vision was overcome with light.

For a moment he felt weightless. He felt like he was turning into a being made purely from the light of the sun. The light from the cold overcast sky was overcome by the warmth radiating out of Nilya’s body.

The stone arms withdrew back into Nilya’s body as Somm sat back to observe.

For a moment everything seemed fine. Then the screaming began.

“The prayer!” The guru-chi barked as he suddenly grew anxious, “Say the prayer!”

“Focus on the prayer!” Somm jumped to his feet, his voice shaking, “You must advance! You hear me?! You’re the chosen one!”

“Damn you!” Somm cursed, “Damn you, you brat! You idiot boy!”

The screams didn’t stop as the boy fell forward, knocking down the altar as he grasped at the rocks and the air. His hands began passing through the stones as his entire body turned into light.

Even as his body dissipated into nothing he didn’t stop screaming.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Somm fell to his knees, cursing to the sky with a feral scream.

All his work, all his years, the very purpose of his life spanning over a millennia, all for naught.

Wasn’t he bequeathed the final oji from the final Trial of Requirement? Wasn’t he blessed by Fate Herself? Wasn’t he destined to be the Guru, to serve with honour beside the next Sun God?

His rage filled screams were swallowed by the mists. He felt a hollowness within him. His hopes, his ambitions, his life’s work—

His ears pricked up as he heard a soft chuckle come from beyond the mists.

“Keh keh keh. What a pleasant sight to come across.” Bacchi’s thin, lanky figure emerged from the mist. Behind him was his oji, a young teenage boy who carried several overly large packs that dwarfed his body.

“My poor younger brother.” Bacchi cooed, “You lost another oji? Too bad, I suppose you’ll have to get another— Oh, that’s impossible now, isn’t it?”

Suspicious thoughts flurried in Somm’s mind as he wondered if Bacchi had interfered with the ascension, if he had something to do with Nilya’s death. But no, Somm had set up a spiritual seal around the ritual, he would have known if there were external factors.

Furthermore, he understood what had gone wrong. The catalyst created by the Hollow Ember was specifically for the Path of the Sun. If an Exalted from another path consumed it— even if they were attuned to the Body Domain— the conflict in energies would cause a violent reaction.

Somm hadn’t raised Nilya to Candidate, the boy was already an Exalted when he took him in. Nilya’s abilities were consistent with the Path of the Sun, but at the Candidate level there was plenty of overlap across other paths.

The Trial of Requirement and the ascension to Apprentice with the trial’s reward were the two tests that confirmed an oji’s qualifications to fulfill the prophecy.

In the past, such a setback would be painful but only considered a small setback. Finding and raising an oji-sen candidate took time and effort, but every one of the guru-chi had done this dozens of times over the past millennia.

However the destruction of the Trial of Requirement was a clear signal that the end of the prophecy was near. There would be no more oji-sen. Somm was out of chances.

“So what now? Your part in the prophecy is over.” Bacchi walked around Somm in a wide circle like a predator around its injured prey, cackling with a mocking glee, “You have a few immortal friends in Byran, don’t you? Are you going to return and practice medicine? Open a clinic, perhaps? You’re old, you deserve a few centuries of rest.”

“I adhered to the teachings.” Somm’s head was bowed, his fists clenched on the swampy earth, “I had the blessings of Fate. How could this happen?”

“This was always your problem, younger brother. Haven’t I always told you, the teachings are but guidelines. You can’t take them literally.” Bacchi lectured, “You still made your oji pray to Shuma, didn’t you?”

“He is our God. There is great power in prayer.” Somm replied through gritted teeth.

“Our God is dead, you old fool!” Bacchi sighed, “How can there be power? Who is going to provide it? No wonder your oji failed the ascension. You’re stuck in the old ways.”

“Someone who still soaks their bandages in sandlion milk shouldn’t lecture me on the old ways.” Somm growled.

“It helps my joints!” Bacchi objected.

“It stinks!” Somm shouted as he jumped to his feet.

The teenage oji who was standing awkwardly at a distance away from the pair nodded imperceptibly at the accusation.

“If it works, it works. How many of your patients did I have to save after you administered thickleroot to them for spring fever?”

“You keep bringing that up? That was centuries ago, and we both didn’t know that Byran thickleroot was different than Solar thickleroot.” Somm snapped, “If you want to bring up ancient history, don’t forget when I had to save face for you in front of ninth brother.”

“I didn’t need you to save face for me!”

“You won’t admit it still? You ungrateful brother of mine.”

“Oh you’re name calling now? You’re such a pitiful fool.” Bacchi shook his head.

“Deluded skunkman.” Somm spat.

“Senile old coot!” Bacchi trembled with rage, triggered by the insult.

“You’re first brother, who’s old?” Somm snuffed dismissively.

“I was wondering why you left such an obvious trail for me to follow. You allowed me to track you on purpose, didn’t you?” Bacchi growled, “You were calling me over so you could ridicule me to my face.”

“I’d rather ridicule you from afar.” Somm pinched his nose provocatively, “Did you like the gift I left for you outside the village?”

Bacchi’s expression soured as he recalled the stink trap left for him by Somm. The unpleasant memory of interacting with an entire village of repulsed peasants.

Somm’s eyes lit up briefly with mischievous joy as he saw that Bacchi was temporarily at a loss for words.

But what good is winning an argument, what good is this bickering?

“Forget it.” Somm’s expression darkened. He shook his head, “Congratulations, then, elder brother. I had thought with my oji’s ascension we could contest fairly for the Trial of Succession. It appears that you will take it now.”

To Somm’s surprise, Bacchi’s expression also fell. The thin, lanky guru-chi shook his head, “No, younger brother. We have been deceived. The Trial of Succession is not happening in Fuha.”

“What?”

“Ylia and Zashii are in NianXing at the Walled City. I believe Nio is as well.”

Confusion flashed in Somm’s eyes briefly before realization set in. He sat down abruptly in shock. “So, that’s how it is.”

The Trial of Succession did not have a set location. The prophecy gave several conflicting descriptions of the locations and times that the trial could be held. The trial was to be held after the final oji candidate was chosen at the Trial of Requirement— a condition which the guru-chi weren’t sure how it would come about, but now with the trial’s destruction all the guru-chi were in agreement that the time of the Trial of Succession was imminent.

The question, then, was location.

Piecing together the clues in the prophecy there were three possible places for the trial to occur. One was in a valley deep in the Zhongshan mountains within Huan. One was in the Walled City in Plunes. The final was a few days away from Somm and Bacchi’s location here in Fuha.

The Trial of Succession’s reward was a token from the Sun God, the oji that obtained it would be considered the chosen heir of the Sun God’s inheritance. Thus every guru-chi schemed and plotted to have their oji take the token as their prize.

There were many rules that governed their behaviour. If a guru-chi had an oji that passed the Trial of Requirement and subsequently consumed the yolk of the Hollow Ember, other guru-chi and their oji could not attack each other directly. Likewise, the guru-chi and oji that obtained the Sun God’s token would become the leaders of the group. Following the Trial of Succession the chosen oji would return to Ying Chu and obtain the Sun God’s inheritance.

But though there were strict rules of non-engagement, the rules said nothing about guru-chi and their oji attacking a guru-chi who did not have an oji who passed the Trial and consumed the Hollow Ember. Thus, Bacchi had used that as a loophole to try to stop Somm from succeeding.

But once Nilya successfully ascended, the rules would strictly protect them from each other. Though he had undergone the Ritual of the Cloak to conceal himself spiritually, he had also intentionally left behind physical clues for Bacchi to follow as they traveled across the wasteland. He only needed to delay Bacchi until such a time that he and his oji were protected by the rules, once that was done the two of them could prepare for the Trial of Succession together.

The plan in Somm’s mind was to plot with Bacchi against the other guru-chi who they thought were also gathering around the trial location in Fuha. But to his surprise they had all converged on the Walled City.

“Ylia did everything in her power to convince us to go to the Walled City.” Somm said, “Zashii told us she was actually on her way to Zhongshan. Thus we thought they each were scheming to keep us away from Fuha. Who would have thought those two were working together.”

“We were tricked.” Bacchi said. He took a seat as well, sighing as he looked out to the swamp, “I believe only twelfth brother is here in Fuha with us.”

“Toji??” Somm shook his head with a groan. Toji was the easiest of the brothers to dupe. Their twelfth brother was hopeless, he had not even had an oji in the past two hundred years. If he were here, it was definitely because he had been tricked by the others.

“It turns out we both were the fools. I saw the signs, I could have set off weeks ago, yet I ignored them.” Bacchi sighed, “It’s your fault. You were acting strange. Like you knew something we didn’t.”

Somm froze as he heard Bacchi’s words.

The elder brother didn’t miss the reaction, nodding, “What was it that had you so convinced it was in Fuha?”

“I saw a sign, I thought I had come across the chosen one. But now he has died. It’s pointless now.” Somm muttered.

It was the boy. The first time he had met Nilya, when Nilya had stood up to him and denied Somm from seeing his sister. There was something in his mannerisms, something that suggested that there was something special about this boy.

Then the boy’s latent Exalted powers spontaneously awoke, and boy’s sister ended up miraculously cured. With each new event Somm became convinced that Nilya was the heir spoken of in the prophecy.

Even the destruction of the Trial of Requirement didn’t stop Nilya from succeeding, how much more clear could it be?

Somm’s eyes flashed as a thought crossed his mind.

“What?” Bacchi asked.

“Was I misled…?” Somm muttered darkly, looking out into the swamp in a specific direction, “Bacchi, let me take you to the girl.”