Chapter 2: Chapter 1: The Wayfarer of Flames (I)

To build a strong fire, one must use the right fuel. Wet wood does not easily burn. You need to spend the time collecting dry kindling.

That’s what Master Shui always said when explaining the need to follow his daily exercise regiment, but Cai never really understood the analogy. Was his body at rest supposed to represent wet wood? And how did running up all these steps represent collecting kindling? Sometimes, he thought his master might just be making this stuff up.

Not that Cai would ever voice that objection. If he ever wanted to be accepted as a Wayfarer of Flame, he needed Master Shui to complete his training. So he’d do whatever it takes … even if that included spending hours each day in a tedious exercise routine.

Cai had done this sequence so many times he had memorized every crooked step, every loose brick, and every dip in the dirt paths. He knew that from the town gate at the base of the mountain, he had to climb exactly seventy-four steps to reach the market street. When he arrived, he would be greeted with the smells of fresh dumplings, fried eggs, and spicy sausage, which would serve as a frustrating reminder that he was only allowed to break his fast with rice and water. He’d then find the usual three street vendors waiting impatiently by their carts along the back street.

On this day, Mr. Tian looked even more agitated than usual. “You’re late. Master Shui would be disappointed.”

“Oh, come on, I can’t be that late,” Cai protested. “I had to get my uniform back from the laundry; didn’t realize my mother had them cleaned last night. But that only set me back – what – ten minutes?”

Mr. Tian did not seem assuaged as he stroked his long, thin mustache. “Excuses don’t sell buns, boy. And every minute lost is a coin unearned.”

“Can’t expect any better,” Mr. Chu added. “He thinks that just because he’s the son of the headman, he’ll never have to work an honest day.”

“Lazy,” was Mr. Xu’s only contribution.

Cai sighed, then conceded to grabbing the front of Mr. Tian’s cart. Pulling these heavy carts up the rocky path to their usual spots was part of the training, and also allowed him to contribute to the community. Though Cai wished his master could have found anyone other than the three grumpiest old men in town for him to help.

He finished pulling Mr. Tian’s carts, then returned for Mr. Chu’s, and finally Mr. Xu’s. By the time he was done, his back muscles were already aching. But he was getting started.

It was another fifty-five steps to get up to the workshops. Here the scents of smoke and sweat were dominate. The craftsman and laborers barely paid any attention to him as he jogged by, too preoccupied with their own tasks. He reached the metalshop owned by Mr. Tie.

“Good morning, Cai,” the burly shop owner greeted him. “Glad you’re here. Got a bunch of new orders just in, and we need those forges going at their peak heats. Already got them lit up for you when you’re ready.”

Mr. Tie was nicer to Cai than the three stall owners, but he worked him much harder. Cai manned the bellows, blowing air into the forges to increase the intensity of the fire. Once it reached a level of Mr. Tie’s approval, the shop owners’ apprentices took over – two apprentices to take over the job he had been doing alone. He did this for each of Cai’s forges in turn. It took over an hour before he turned over the bellows on the last, and by the end of it, Cai was hot, sweaty, and sore.

“My apprentices will take over from here,” Mr. Tie said after the last forge was brought up to temperature. “Thanks again for all your hard work. And give your parents my regards, will you?”

Sixty-one steps took him to the residences. He passed two Wayfarers on his way, who smirked and waved at him.

“Keep it up, Cai!” Jun shouted. “Remember your breathing!”

“Master Shui is going to give you your trial any day now,” Zan assured him.

There weren’t any chores in Cai’s regiment around the residences, but there was an annoying restriction to his jot through here: he could not touch the ground.

He leaped up onto a fence post, then balanced across the wooden planks between the supports. When he reached the edge, he hopped over to a nearby tree and began climbing up its side. The first time he had tried this route, he had picked a branch that could not support his weight and taken an embarrassing tumble. Now he knew exactly which branch he could creep across that would take him close enough to the yellow house with the vines on the side that he could make the jump. He climbed the vines and pulled himself to the house’s roof.

From there, it was mostly leaping from rooftop to rooftop, with the occasional need to grab a windowsill or a balcony railing when the buildings were a bit too far apart. Fortunately, the townsfolk had gotten used to the early-morning thumping on their rooftops. Or used to it enough that they no longer came out to shout profanities at him or threw things from their windows. The final roof on his route was his own. As he leaped down from the roof back to the path, his mother waved at him from her spot on the front steps. She came out there every morning to watch him go by and give him encouragement.

He waved back at her as he jogged by, then continued on towards the last steps of the steps, one-hundred-and-one in total, which took him onto a plateau which overlooked the rest of the town. Here he was allowed fifteen minutes to rest and recover before he had to get on with the proper part of his training. He wondered if Master Shui would show up to supervise him today, or if he would once again be on his own.

There were several barrels of water here, which Cai drank generously from before splashing some on his face. He stood there for a minute, leaning on the barrels for support, as he waited for the aching in his legs to die down.

There were some voices nearby. Odd – no one else really had much of a reason to come up here. He ambled over to the training ground and found a group of children gathered together. An older boy, Lei, was standing right at the edge of the pit – and was pumping his arms as if he was getting ready to jump!

Cai burst towards him and managed to grab him by the shoulder just as Lei was bending his knees.

“Hey, let go!” Lei demanded. “I wasn’t doing nothing!”

“You weren’t about to go jump into the training grounds?” Cai retorted. “Cause that’s what it looked like.”

The other children jeered and moaned.

Lei scowled. “I could of made the jump.”

“You could have broken your neck.”

“I’m going to be an apprentice Wayfarer in a few years!” Lei insisted, folding his arms in front of himself. “I’ve been practicing the way of the spreading flame every day. I can jump real far!”

“Even if you could leap as far as me, you can’t make the jumps in the training grounds without the tattoo.”

Cai rolled up his sleeve, showing off crimson bird tattoo on his right arm. It was incomplete – to be finished when he completed his training – but already the intense red ink seemed to glow like hot embers, as if the fiery beast was ready to burst out from within him.

“It’s the Lyris in these tattoos that allow us Wayfarers to walk along the Ways of the Flame,” Cai lectured. “Even I wouldn’t be able to make all these jumps without it.”

‘I guess…” Lei conceded. “I mean, I knew that. They taught us that in class. I only wanted to make the first jump, is all. It’s not that far.”

Cai looked out over the training ground. The oval pit was dotted with platforms which held the various trials for apprentice Wayfarers to test their skills against. Lei was right – the first platform wasn’t that far. Cai could probably reach it without relying on the Lyris. Of course, he wasn’t supposed to attempt the training grounds without the master’s supervision.

But was it really his fault if Master Shui never showed up? There was only so much good that practicing his forms would do if he never got any practical experience with them.

“You can’t go out there today, Lei,” Cai said. “But how would you like to watch me?”

Lei’s eyes lit up, and the other children all gathered closer. They were never allowed around the training grounds when they were in use. The master didn’t want the apprentices to have any distractions. Cai thought an audience might actually motivate him to work harder.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Cai made all the children back away, then braced himself. Then, with a running start, he took a grand leap to the first platform. Only the front half of his feet felt the wood beneath him, and the rest felt the empty air. He thew his arm forward to correct his balance and keep from having a serious fall. Turns out, the jump was possible, but just barely.

Ahead of him, the platforms were spaced progressively further and higher, forming a rising circle around the pit. No way he was taking any more risks.

He crouched, putting all the weight on his back foot and resting his front leg on his toes. His arms bent at the elbows and his hands laid at the top of his thighs, just below the hip. This was the stance for the way of the spreading flame.

The flame leaps through the air as if it is weightless, catching alight all it touches, before leaping again, tireless and boundless. This was the lesson Cai needed to embody. He set his focus on the platform in front of him, took a deep breath, and jumped.

No sooner than his foot touched down on the platform than he was already prepared to leap again. Like spreading flames, Cai jumped between the platforms, ascending the spiral. He could feel the tingling from his tattoo as the Lyris opened the Way for him.

He reached the top of the spiral and took a moment to appreciate the cheering of his new fans, then turned his attention to the next trial.

Two forges stood side by side. Long ropes extended from the top of each, acting as an anchor point for another platform currently raised above his head. He had to light both forges, each with a different form.

First, he spread his legs apart so his feet were wider than his shoulders and bent at the waist. His arms were bent at his side as he locked his shoulders. This was the form for the way of the flickering flame.

A flame can flicker for but an instant, too brief for a memory, but in that instant, it can leave its mark, a stage for it to flicker once more.

Cai struck the kindling in the first forge with a fleeting punch, followed by another with the opposite fist, and then another, and again. Over and over, he struck it, each strike eliciting a faint spark atop the kindling. He kept striking it until the kindling finally caught, lighting the forge. The rope that extended from it burned and snapped. The platform above shifted.

He was breathing heavily. That form had always been his least favorite. It was too exhausting for so little power, and he didn’t know why anyone would choose it over the far more impressive one which was up next: the way of the erupting flame.

Once he had prepared himself, he extended his back leg straight while putting all his weight on his front leg, which he bent at the knee. His arms he kept at his side and braced behind his core, building up the power within.

When the flame erupts, it is unstoppable, a force of destruction only satisfied when it all before it is reduced to ash.

With a deep breath, he quickly lunged forward, striking out with both fists at once. They hit the kindling in the second forge with impressive force, and instantly there was a burst of flames. The forge shuddered from the blast, and the rope connected to it snapped.

The platform above creaked and moaned as it lowered, the chain that controlled its descent squealing from the strain. It came to a stop directly in front of him.

There was more cheering from the crowd of children. Cai was right: the audience did help.

Cai set a foot on the newly descended platform. It wobbled and tipped slightly towards him. Only the chain in its center held it up, and any weight placed on it would send it sinking in that direction.

He was beginning to have second thoughts. This is as far into the training grounds as he had ever gotten. Master Shui wanted him to practice the next form more on solid ground before attempting it here. And there was no one here who could help him if he slipped up.

But as he was considering turning back, he heard the cheering again. The calls for him to press on. And that was all the motivation he needed.

The only way across this platform was with great speed. He crouched down, turning his front foot outward and resting on the back of his back foot. He braced his arms at a wide angle to his side. The form for the way of fleeting flame.

Like a lit candle, the flame is fleeting, and as the candlelight cannot be held in the palm of your hand, so too can the flame not be caught. Cai really focused on those words and concentrated on embodying them at a level he had not achieved before.

And then he was off. He could feel the platform begin to dip forward, but he was already halfway across. His tattoo stung and his legs burned as he pushed himself harder than he had ever attempted in this form, but the Way was open to him. In an instant he was across and able to catch his breath on the final platform.

But he knew that despite his successes today, that was as far as he could go. In front of him, carved into the wall of the mountain, was a massive door with an ebony face carved in its center. Opening this door was the last trial before becoming a true Wayfarer, but doing so required mastery of the final form of the Ways of the Flame. A form that Master Shui continued to insist he would only teach him ‘when he was ready.’ Whenever that would be.

Well, he wouldn’t let that take away from what he accomplished today. He turned around, preparing to take a bow in front of his adoring crowd –

And saw Master Shui, politely clapping at the base of the pit. The children seemed to have fled. Would have been nice if they had given Cai a warning.

“Very impressive, young Cai,” Shui called out. “It seems you still have too much energy after your morning regiment. I may need to make adjustments. Now, would you mind coming down?”

Cai shuddered at the thought of what fate his master had in store for him, but he did as he was told and returned to the base of the training grounds.

“I am very sorry, master,” Cai said, head bowed. “I know there’s no excuse for my impatience, I just –“

“I wish I had time to hear your full apology,” Shui interrupted, “so I can learn what you think you did wrong and what you still need to be lectured on, but we must be on our way. Your father has requested your immediate presence.”

“Father did?” Cai’s father was always busy with his duties as headman. It was rare for him to require Cai for anything.

Cai followed his master back down the steps towards his house. Though Shui was a foot shorter than him, the old man took big strides and Cai had to hustle to keep up with him. It was like trying to keep pace with a horse. Cai didn’t know how he was able to move so fast while looking like a shriveled-up raisin.

They arrived back at the house just as a strange man was leaving. He was a foreigner that Cai had never seen before, wearing a fine suit and nice shoes, poor choices for the mountain paths. His feet would be sore in the morning, and he might never get the dirt out of that suit. The man smiled and nodded at them as he passed by. Cai rolled his eyes. Foreigners.

Shui insisted on waiting outside while Cai went to talk to his father. Cai found both of his parents seated at the dining table, both wearing serious expressions. A black envelope sat on the table between them.

“Cai, take a seat,” his father demanded. “We need to discuss something important.”

Cai did as he was told while trying to remember if he had done something recently that could land him in trouble. The last time his father had sat him down, it was after Cai had got caught fooling around with Mr. Chu’s daughter. But Cai had stayed out of trouble since Master Shui had agreed to train him. Well, mostly, but his father couldn’t know about today’s incident at the training ground yet.

“Have you ever heard about the Tournament Lyris?” his father asked.

“I don’t think so,” Cai replied, hoping this wasn’t a part of his lessons that he was forgetting.

“Every decade, each region picks a fighter to participate in a contest. The winner gets to decide how the supply of Lyris is distributed and used. Our community hasn’t participated in a long time, but the commission that runs the tournament sent a representative here to personally deliver an invitation to us. I fear it could be considered rude if we choose to ignore this invitation, and that might lead to problems with our neighbors, so I have decided to accept. I will be representing our Wayfarers of Flame in this contest.”

That foreigner must have been the one to drop off the invitation. Cai didn’t know why his parents were so serious – this seemed like exciting news.

“Well, this is good, right?” Cai ventured. “I mean, if you win the tournament, you can direct more Lyris here. Master Shui told me the reason so few people can be trained as Wayfarers is because we have barely any Lyris. With this, we could train a whole generation of them!”

His father cracked a slight smile. “I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, Cai. But even if I was strong enough to win, I don’t intend to be the champion.”

“What? Why not?”

“Being champion comes with certain …” His father paused, as if thinking through his words. “Obligations. Things that would take me away from my important role here. No, I prefer to leave that to someone else. But I do intend to put on a good showing, and if I can manage it, make some allies. If I can support a friendly soul to the top, perhaps they could help with our Lyris supply.”

Cai couldn’t imagine entering a contest without the intention of winning, but that sounded like his father. Physically, the two were practically mirror images, as if Cai could see his own future just by looking at his father. They had the same dark skin, same pale red eyes, same straight, black hair – though Cai kept his long and tied back while his father kept it short. But personality wise, they were opposites.

His father paused again. “Cai, the reason it’s important for you to know all of this is – well – this contest, the Tournament Lyris. The challenges presented can often be deadly. If your fellow competitors don’t slay you, there’s a chance the events might. Many who participate don’t return. While I intend to do everything I can to survive, you need to be prepared for the possibility that I won’t.”

Cai sat in shock. “What? You can’t be serious.”

“I am. As my son, there are responsibilities you will inherit if I don’t return. The villagers need a leader, and – “

“Don’t be an idiot!” Cai shouted. “They’d never follow me! Most of them still see me as nothing but a troublemaking kid! If this contest is so dangerous, just don’t go. Turn down the invitation.”

The headman shared a look with his wife. “It could present problems if I don’t –“

“You dying would create a whole bunch more problems!” Cai argued.

His mother put a hand on his should, trying to calm him down. “Your father is doing what is best for our community. I’m worried about him, too, but we have to place our faith in him.”

“Yeah, father always knows what’s best for everyone,” Cai growled. “But I don’t. I have no idea how to be a leader. Pick someone else.”

Without waiting for further argument, Cai got up and stormed out.

Master Shui was still waiting outside. “By the look on your face, I’d guess you reacted as poorly as I thought you would.”

Cai ignored the jibe. “Tell me the truth, master – what are my father’s chances?”

He looked thoughtful. “Headman Kong is the best student I ever had. If there’s anyone who could walk the Way of the Flames all the way to victory, it would be him. But I can’t say with any confidence that it will be enough. The world is filled with talented fighters, representing a range of disciplines. And this tournament has no restrictions regarding use of weapons, magic, trickery – Kong will need to pick his fights carefully, and recognize his limits.”

“That’s what I feared. Knowing father, he will fall face-first into a trap while trying to do something noble.” Cai shook his head. “Wait – I thought you said I was the best student you’ve ever had?”

Shui chuckled. “Don’t be so needy. I can have more than one best student.” flame will open to you, and you may just have a chance of surviving.”

It sounded simple enough, but Cai knew from his time with learning the other forms that these lessons were never as simple as they seemed on the surface. He wished he had more time to think about it, but the screeching behind him alerted him that the train had arrived.

“Thank you for everything, master.” Cai bowed.

With that, Cai boarded the train that would take him away for home, far further than he had ever been, to a place where he would be fighting for survival against so of the best this world had to offer.

And towards the stranger whom his destiny had become intertwined with.