The legends a stream could tell,
The tales a tree could sing...

The stream has witnessed history untold,
The towering trees with stories to behold.

江波悠悠述
柳曳念往古

"The Songs of Lady Hyunmi" compiled by Princess Jemsui 潛水公主

Jailap Saqlash walked out of the school. After a long day of teaching students, he was tired. He looked into the horizon and took a deep breath.

"Ishtan-dana!" Someone called out to him. Without looking, he knew it was Mihraz Aqa, who had been waiting for him outside the school for most of the day. "It's the first of the month! Won't you come to the storyteller with me?"

Ishtan sighed happily. It was an old tradition of Derekh to listen to the storyteller on the first day of the month, but it is an event mostly attended by children and the elderly. But he was happy to go anywhere with Mihraz, and he had not seen her in a few days.

"Then let's take the longer way," Ishtan said. Mihraz smiled brightly. The longer way was through a path by the river, where Ishtan and Mihraz use to take from their houses to the storyteller's house. The storyteller gave rock sugar to the children, so afterward, Ishtan and Mihraz would sit by the bank of the river under a bridge to enjoy their rock sugar without fear of older kids stealing from them. Ishtan was never much of a warrior, and Mihraz was usually the one that stood up to the older kids. She was often teased for being friends with such a weak boy, so when Ishtan became the youngest sage in Derekh, Mihraz was pleased to be associated with him.

As they walked, the sun was beginning to set. Mihraz nudged Ishtan, "I heard the Sage's children have arrived in Kawasha." Ishtan was shocked. The Sage was none other than Kutlug Dana, the great sage and leader of Derekh, who had united the nine clans of Derekh and led the region in the war against the Mori in the Third Expulsion. Ishtan had always admired that a person of his same vocation could be so wise and powerful. Nobody knew much about his children, beside the fact that there was an older boy and a younger girl, and that they were both fierce warriors, though none were sages like their father. Ishtan quickened his step.

When they arrived at the storyteller's house, it was already overflowing with people. Men and women were cramped on both sides of the house, and children were climbing the windows to get a better look. Unsurprisingly, word about the Dana's children had spread through the entire village. Mihraz looked at Ishtan. "Can you get us up to the balcony?" she said. "You know that I can't," Ishtan replied. As a sage, Ishtan was well-acquainted to mysticism, which was primarily used for inner practices but also allowed sages to be able to undertake all kinds of feats, but these were only ever to be used in extreme cases. Sages who used their mystic powers for their own self-interest were immediately condemned and excommunicated by the sagely community.

"Then I guess we'll make our own way" Mihraz said. She began pushing through the crowd while people scoffed and said things like "if her father were here..." under their breath. Of course, Ishtan was deeply embarrassed and just kept his head down and Mihraz pushed them throw the crowd of people.

From their angle, they were barely able to see the story-teller, only the back of his head. But they were in full view of three figures that sat directly across from him. One was a young man with a clean-shaven, handsome face and serious eyes. Another was a young woman with a beautiful countenance, though covered by scars. The third was the one that everyone seemed to be staring at. Almost double the size of the other two, this one was a large man with a large beard and deep-set eyes that was almost covered by his eyebrows. Ishtan had heard of the yaksha of the north who were said to be larger than the average person and even giants of the east, but this man had a long furry tail, so he was obviously a linren.

Mihraz whispered to him, "That must be Hala Turpani." Hala Turpani was a hero of the Expulsions, and now served as a guard for the Dana. Many had heard of him, and his reputation was almost mythical. Ishtan was not well-acquainted with the world of gossip and hear-say, but even he had heard of Hala Turpani, though he dismissed the rumors about his size to exaggeration. He did not think that a linren could ever grow to this size.

"Oh!" The story-teller clapped his hands and began singing and the crowd became quiet. His "oh!" transformed into flowing and mournful melody. He began singing about the history of the Derekhians as nomads from the east and their encounters with violence from the Mori.

From eastern shores of creation
To the western plains of desolation
Hoofbeats sound like a sea of thunder
And a mother holds her crying child

As he continued, his voice began to grow more lively and volatile as he began to play the dutar loudly.

Oh Bilge! We are lost in our own country
Our children have not known peace
The frost of winter melts
In the footsteps of our beloved sage.

As the story-teller kept singing this part of the story, people began clapping and shaking their heads. Ishtan smiled, he was indeed blessed to live in a time of peace, as his father and his father's father often told him of the times of never-ending war. He himself would have fought in the Third Expulsion, but at that point he had already committed to the path of a sage, and his sect ordered him to complete his learning in Derekh. Mihraz was not so fortunate, and her father, a jade-crafter in the village, died in battle. Indeed, only the young children have seen a life of peace, and Ishtan credits this time to the wisdom and strength of the great Sage, Kutlug Dana. Ishtan looked at the clean-shaven across the story-teller. The Dana was growing old, and Ishtan hoped that his son would have the same wisdom as the great Sage.

As he thought about these things, Ishtan looked at the faces of the people of his village. He noticed an unfamiliar face. As he looked around, he noticed that there were about ten or so strangers in the house. He had an uneasy feeling. He pointed it out to Mihraz. She confirmed that she had also never seen these people before. "We should go and warn the village elder," she said. As she grabbed Ishtan's arm to leave, they heard screams as one of the mysterious figures took out a dagger and jumped with great speed toward the Dana's son. Everyone began to rush out of the house, but the doorway was too crowded for anyone to move. Ishtan heard the sound of metal clashing, and when he looked up, the woman had brandished the long sabre from her back. Ishtan turned away as she swiftly swung the sabre toward the man's neck. Seeing that the door was crowded, Ishtan brough Mihraz to the balcony. He grabbed her arm and jumped toward the river.

"Das'khe," Ishtan said, and suddenly a swirl of water surrounded them and pushed them safely to the bank. Mihraz was shocked, she had never seen Ishtan use mysticism before beside for the sake of meditation practices. She admiration was quickly interrupted when a loud "pa!" was heard and the wall of the house crumbled. "I will go warn the village elder," she said, "you need to keep people safe from the battle with what you just did." Ishtan nodded, and Mihraz ran off.

When Ishtan arrived at the house, people were still struggling to get through the door.  He did not know what to do: he was not strong enough to make the door larger, and he did not have the strength to create holes in the wall for more people to escape. He silently cursed himself, his first teacher would have been able to do these things. He noticed that some people were trying to climb out of the windows. He suddenly came up with an idea. He asked some people running out to move the stacks of straw from the neighboring houses under the window. After they had done so, people were able to jump out of the windows and land in the straw. The door had also become less crowded, and everyone escaped.

Ishtan was relieved. As he turned to go toward the village elder's house to find Mihraz, he suddenly heard another loud noise and noticed smoke coming from that direction. He began running toward the village elder's house. He heard two more explosions, followed by more smoke. People began running north toward the main road, but Ishtan continued running south to find Mihraz. By the time he reached the village elder's house, it was burning in flames. Ishtan looked around desperately. Where was Mihraz? He heard three more explosions and most of the houses were now on fire. Smoke filled the air, and Ishtan knew that he would have to trust that she somehow managed to escape. In the smoke, he noticed a figure crouched down on the ground. "Mihraz!" He yelled, and quickly grabbed her shoulder. To his surprise, it was not Mihraz, but a young girl with two antlers protruding from the top of her head. 

He quickly retracted his hand, and she looked up at him with desperate eyes. "We need to leave," he shouted, as another explosion was heard. She didn't answer. He grabbed her arm and ran to the bridge. The air was covered in smoke, and he did not know where he was. Holding onto her, they jumped off the bridge into the river. "I don't know how to swim!" the girl yelled. "Zuantrung" said Ishtan, and a current pushed them quickly down the river.

Who plays the qeej so beautifully?
Bake cake for mother at night,
Make tea for father in the morning,
I go to the land of peace

Who plays the qeej so beautifully?
Wrap the daughters in colored robes,
Tell the sons to gather flowers,
I return to the maple tree.

Traditional Zha Funeral-Song

When they arrived at the banks of the river, Ishtan had lost all his strength and let go of the girl's arm. He did not realize that he had been holding onto her so tightly that her sleeve had ripped. The girl, even in the midst of the chaos and smoke, had fallen asleep while Ishtan's current pushed them along. He used his remaining strength to drag her onto the banks before falling asleep himself.

He awoke to a knife and two red eyes staring down at him. "Don't move or I'll kill you," the girl said. Her accent was foreign to Ishtan. Besides other Derekhians and Mori, he had never heard any other dialects before. Ishtan was so provincial that even the city people of Derekh sounded strange to him.

"If you try to do anything to me, I'll kill you," the girl said. Ishtan laughed to himself at the nonsense of such a phrase because he obviously could not do anything to her while she had a dagger aimed at his forehead. "Singil (which means little sister in the Derekhian dialect)," he said, "I would not harm you, I am a sage."

"Who is 'singil?'" she answered, unfamiliar with the foreign phrase, "Priests are rotten and sages are corrupt!" In her frustration, she threw the dagger at the tree. To Isthan's surprise, this young girl was quite skilled at dagger throwing, and the dagger pierced the bark of the tree quite deeply. "Who are you to try and save me?" she said.

"I don't know what you mean," said Ishtan, "we sages are bound by a code of honour-"

"Again with that sage crap!" she said. "Tell me, old man, how did you move the water like that?"

Ishtan smiled. Despite the insult, he had rarely been praised for his proficiency with water, as most of his students wished to learn more flashy techniques such as fire or earth. But Ishtan had always had an affinity with water, perhaps because the element was quiet and still, much like himself.

"I can teach you, if you'd like." He said.

"I don't care about that," she said, "I want you to fight me."

Ishtan was surprised. He had never used his abilities to fight anyone before, although this was not unheard of among sages. Before he could reply, a ball of fire flew right past his face. Seeing her accuracy with the dagger, he figured that she must have missed him on purpose to shock him.

"So you are a mystic too," he said.

"I don't care about mystic or whatever," she said, "I just want to see which is more powerful, fire or water!" She directed more fire toward him. Ishtan, unexperienced in the martial uses of mysticism, simply tried to dodge and occasionally catch the fire, though he frequently burned his feet and hands. The girl laughed as Ishtan awkwardly danced around to avoid her fire.

They continued this throughout the morning, and soon Ishtan was panting of exhaustion. "Please singil," he said "we sages are honourable, should not-"

"Don't talk to me about honour!" She roared, and sent a huge fire toward him. Ishtan tried to jump out of the way, but he was too late, and the fire burned his leg. He yelled in pain, and the girl suddenly felt regret.

The girl's name was Ti Lya, and she was from the far north, from the region of Zaj. There were a variety of peoples and tribes that lived in the area and the sea surrounding it, so it was frequently plagued by conflict. Lya was only a young child when her fishing village was raided by pirates and her parents were killed. She was then adopted by an atapa priest who lived in Zaj. The priest's name was Dhivamsin, and he taught her the mystic arts of the Nakshatra Uttarayana tradition, which, unknown to her, was an extremely rare art outside of the Grishma Plains. Naturally gifted, Lya learned quickly, though she had not interest in the inner practices of mysticism.

One year ago, Dhivamsin set out on a pilgrimage. Lya begged her teacher to let her go with him, but he refused and told her to focus on practicing inner mysticism. Stubborn, Lya secretly followed him all the way to the south of the Ashlands. One day, Dhivamsin said loudly, "You have been following me for two months now, and you still will not show yourself?" He scolded her, telling her, "you have no shame, and therefore, you have no honour." Lya, insulted by her teacher, then ran away and wandered to the south of Yangmu. Thanks to the powerful mysticism she had learned from her teacher, she was able to defend herself and steal for food and supplies. She eventually followed the river to Kawasha Village. This was why Ti Lya was enraged by Ishtan's comment about honour. However, she also missed her teacher dearly, so when she saw she had burnt this 'old man,' she felt regret.

Lya went toward Isthan, and he started to feel the pain in his leg subsiding. "You know how to use the technique of 'inner fire?'" He was surprised. This healing technique, in which the one can control the inner spirit of another person either to manipulate or heal them, was one he had only heard of in places far from Yangmu.

"Singil, where are you from?" he asked. "If you will stop calling me that, I will tell you." She replied. "My name is Ti Lya, and I am from Zaj, which you wood-people call 'the Ashlands.'" Lya hated the name that the linren applied to her country. In truth, linren are the most familiar with the Mey tribe in the south, who live in an area full volcanoes, which causes ash to be very common during certain seasons. As a result, they named the entire region "the Ashlands," despite the fact that the other parts of the regions were actually full of vibrant forests. Isthan was also surprised by the name she used to describe the linren. This, too, was a misnomer, because though the northern linren live in the woods, the rest of Yangmu is actually quite geographically diverse. Derekh, for example, is mostly mountains and plains.

"Yes, of course," Ishtan said, "you have the eyes and horns of a dragon." In his youth, he had read much about foreign lands, and had heard of the people of the northern Ashlands, the Zaj, who were called the children of the dragons due to their red eyes and the antlers that grew from the top of their heads. He had forgotten about this until Lya had mentioned it.

Lya laughed, she was delighted that someone knew her people, whose numbers had been decreasing over the seasons because of the frequent attacks from other peoples of the region. She decided that this 'old man' was not so bad.

After this, they worked together to find food, as Ishtan used his water techniques to catch fish as Lya cooked them over a fire. They decided that they should go to Derekh city, as they had a better chance of surviving there now that the village was gone. Ishtan also secretly hoped that Mihraz had escaped and gone to the city as well. They would follow the river, against the flow, which would lead them to the city.

There is a proverb: "silver passes, a good word remains." Where rain falls, flowers grow, but all will perish unto the black earth, so you too will pass quickly from this dream-world. Therefore adorn your heart with the light of wisdom, ornament your soul with tanukluk, a true witness.

"Wisdom of the Rising Sun and Full Moon" by Ogurmish the Awakened

Ishtan and Lya had been traveling together for a week, and had still not arrived back at the now-burnt Kawasha Village. Ishtan's current, which he used with full force for an entire night, had taken them far down the river.

The two worked well together, although Ishtan's personal code and Lya's disdain for the rules often led to disagreements. However, Lya understood that this 'old man' was trustworthy and honest, and Ishtan was often charmed by his the intelligence and talent of his 'singil.'

On the 7th day of their travels, they ran into a caravan of jade traders. The caravan offered the two travelers to eat with them, and they ate rice, raisins, garlic, and herbs together near the river. They talked about their travels throughout Yangmu, with clearly exaggerated stories of their conquering of bandits and wild beasts. Although Ishtan was used to this kind of exaggeration, Lya was fascinated and kept asking questions. One of the traders noticed the walnut necklace around Ishtan's neck.

"Oh, you're a dana!" he said, "Forgive us, we were unaware" He and the other traders bowed deeply. He stood up and said, "Please, sit, this beggar is unworthy of such respect." It was a common thing for sages in Derekh to refer to themselves as beggars to practice humility.

"Dana, if you are willing," the trader said, "we have a wounded person that needs to be healed." Ishtan immediately stood up. The sacred duties of a sage, as taught by the masters of the Galau Sect are threefold: to defend the weak, to heal the afflicted, and to pass on the sacred teachings. This situation fell into the second sacred duty. The traders led him to a cart. Lya followed along, curious as to what kind of healing this 'old man' could do.

On the cart, they saw a tall man with long untied black hair. Beads and feathers were tied to his hair, his neck, his wrist and his fingers, and a thick wool robe covered his body. The man's weapons were still on him. He had a long thin sword, an intricately carved bow without any arrows, and a dagger on his belt.

"We did not dare to touch his weapons," the trader said, "every time we tried to take off his weapons, he would violently try to attack us."

"Singil, use your inner fire technique to restrict his fingers," Ishtan told Lya. This was a clever strategy since he knew that Lya did not have the power to control large quantities of inner fire, such as the entire hand, but by restricting the fingers, there was little the man could do, especially in his injured state. He told two of the male traders to hold down the man's legs.

The man was severely injured, and Ishtan was unsure that even he could save him. The most prominent injury, aside from bruises and fractures, was three large and deep claw marks that seem to have bled a lot, judging from the amount of blood on the man's robe. To make matters worse, Ishtan did not have his medicines with him, as he escaped Kawasha with only the clothes on his back. He took out some herbs that he had collected on his week of traveling and applied it to the wounds. The man reacted violently and kicked off one of the traders holding his leg. Lya struggled to subdue his fingers.

Ishtan took out nine smooth stones from the river and placed three on each of the man's claw wounds. "Ok'zhang" he chanted, and the stones began glowing. The man struggled intensely. The traders could no longer hold down his feet, and one of his hands went to his belt to reach for his dagger, but his fingers were not able to grab it. Instead, he quickly and powerfully brought his palm to Ishtan's head. Lya laughed at the comical scene of grown men getting kicked off a cart, and this 'old man' being slapped in the face. The man suddenly grew weak, let out a grunt, and became unconscious.

Ishtan and Lya traveled with the caravan along the river, as they were all going to Derekh. When they set up camp for the night, Lya asked Ishtan about the injured man. Ishtan explained to her the fundamentals of the inner elements of a person. Injuries cause a person's inner fire to fall out of balance by rising too much, so it is necessary to provide a cooling balance to it. Usually this is obtained through time, but with certain injuries, such as poison or very deep wounds, the inner fire continues to increase, and a person's condition gets worse. The stones that Ishtan put on the man provided a cold balance to his rising inner fire, but it also risks cooling too much, and extinguishing his inner fire completely, which means death. Therefore, because of the intensity of the cold energy needed to balance the man's severe injuries, his life could only be saved if his willpower was strong enough.

Lya had heard these things from Dhivamsin, but she never paid any attention. Now that she had a dying man in front of her, she was much more interested in these concepts. Each mental disposition favours a different inner element. Idealism and spontaneity with wood, passion and intensity with fire, honesty and resolve with earth, bravery and rationality with metal, and calmness and gentleness with water. It made sense now why she and the 'old man' worked so well together. Her old teacher was of the same fiery temperament as her, so they often grew the inner fire of each one and worsened each disagreement. With the 'old man', they often balanced each other out.

When Lya woke up the next morning, she went to check on the injured man. But when she went to the cart, the he had disappeared.

I ask the Radiant for light in darkness,
I ask the All-Seeing for wisdom in uncertainty,
I ask the Protector for refuge in danger,
I ask the Enlightened for liberation from the suffering of life.

"Sutra for the Second Night Watch"

Lya ran to Ishtan, who had already woken up and was meditating.

"The man is gone!" she said.

Ishtan thought for a moment. "That means he lived," he said, "but I worry if he is in the right condition to be on his own."

They decided that there was nothing they could do but continue on their way to Derekh with the traders.

Before sunset, they reached Kawasha. The entire east side of the village had burned down, and only some of the fire must have crossed the river and reached the west side. However, the battle that was fought between the Dana's children and Hala Turpani against the mysterious assassins was extremely violent and left many of the wood houses burnt or destroyed. Ishtan was amazed at the power of these individuals to cause such damage, and he was also saddened to see the remains of his hometown.

The traders stopped to take a break under the shade of an abandoned shrine. They took out some bread and dried fruit and offered some to Lya. She happily obliged. Meanwhile, Ishtan went to the village elder's house. It had completely burned down. He wondered if there was any way that Mihraz and the village elder had gotten out in time. Kawasha to Derekh was about a ten day's journey, and Ishtan hoped to get there as soon as possible to try to find Mihraz.

He crossed the river and returned to the shrine where the others were. He a glimmer in one of the trees nearby. "No!" he yelled, and five arrows launched from the tree toward Lya and the traders. "Pùm" he chanted and reached out his palm, and a gust of wind blew the arrows off course right before they reached their heads. Lya immediately understood the situation. "Agni" she said, and launched a fire at the tree, which started burning.

After about a minute, the heat became too much for the person in the tree, and he jumped out, but he did not run away. "It's you!" Lya said. It was indeed the injured man who had disappeared, but he had been following them for the entire day. He said nothing and took out his large sword. The traders took out their weapons, but they were terrified of this man. They had witnessed his strength even when he was mortally wounded and now his accuracy from the way the five arrows had been perfectly aimed at their heads the same time.

They charged at him, but he swung his sword in a decisive manor, and the traders just managed to dodge it. They retreated. There was no way they could get close to him with a sword as large as his, and they did not have the skills to disarm him. Lya began to shoot streams of fire at the man, but he dodged them with ease and began to swing his sword toward her. She began to retreat and he advanced toward her.

She continued to shoot fire at him while he stepped forward and swung. He did not show it, but the man was still very weak, and he was unable to swing his heavy sword at full speed, nor could he dodge the fire nimbly so when he dodged he had to completely focus on it and could not swing at the same time. They continued this advance and retreat until they reached a bridge. The man had actually strategically used his swings to lead her here where she no longer had they freedom to dodge his attacks.

When Lya realized this, it was too late and she began to shoot fire at a rapid pace. Surprised, the man worked hard to dodge her fire, but he quickly realized that these were not accurate shots, but random shots of desperation. He bent down, dodging a fire ball, and quickly sprung back up, shooting toward her, with his sword ready to swing.

Suddenly, a wave of water rushed toward him and washed him off the bridge Ishtan had summoned the wave, but he needed time to gather the inner strength to do so, and was able to summon it just in time to save Lya. Lya, however, had also ended up in the water, so he quickly swam to save her. The man, unable to swim, flung his arms desperately to stay afloat. "Dasrùm" Ishtan said, and the roots of the trees near the water wrapped around the man and tied him to the bank.

Ishtan had noticed from the very beginning that this man was not from Yangmu. His tail was a dark black color, a characteristic only in the tribe of Mey in the Ashlands north of Derekh. The Mey were a fearsome tribe that had many elite warriors, so Ishtan knew they were lucky that the six of them had even subdued a single Mey.

After everyone had recuperated, Ishtan approached him. "You have come from a long way, uka (the Derekhian word for younger brother). Tell me, what are you doing here?" The man did not speak. Ishtan gave him some food, which he ate ravenously.

"It is said in my country that all debts must be repaid," the man said, "the good sir has recovered my wounds and given me food, which I was prepared to kill for, and I have repaid him with violence." He hung his head down.

"Another sword does nothing to grow a tree," Ishtan responded. This was a proverb in Derekh that meant that revenge does nothing to fix a situation. "What is your name?"

"Since the good sir has been merciful, I will respond with full honesty. Your servant's name is Gosthung Dkarpo of the tribe of Mey to the north. I was sent on an envoy to Kharoi, but my party became lost in the Great Forest. We fought terrible monsters, and even the trees fought against us. I do not know where my companions are, and I fear I may have been the only one to have survived. As I wandered lost, a group of linren put me in their cart, and I believed I was being captured to be sold in the black market. Then the good sir healed my fatal wounds. I was reluctant to be helped by a linren, even now, but now all my honor has already been lost."

"We are currently going to Derekh. If you would like to join us to prepare for your journey back to your country, you may come with us." Ishtan said.

Gosthung bowed his head in agreement. Ishtan loosened the roots which were tying him down. "Sir," he said. Ishtan looked at him. He bowed. "You have already given me the greatest mercy by saving my life."

"Oh, just tell him what you want!" Lya jumped out of a nearby tree. She had been curious to what Ishtan was talking about with this strange man, but she grew tired of their endless formalities.

"You were able to heal these fatal wounds with only stones from the river. I, even with all the herbs that we had, was unable to save any of my companions. I ask the good sir to teach me the methods that he used." Gosthung said.

Ishtan smiled. He had gained yet another student. "I can teach you," Ishtan said, "but it will take more than a few days. Will you not return to your country soon?"

"If I can learn these techniques from you, I will be able to serve my country with greater capabilities and better fulfill my duty." Gosthung said.

"Then we will go to Derekh, and I will teach you." Ishtan said while looking at Lya. He turned back to Gosthung. "But one day, I may need to ask a favor of you in return for these techniques."

Gosthung clapped his hands together and bowed deeply. "Whatever you will."

The city of Ka-li-you is like none other.

Records of the Sun-Setting Lands, "Ka-li-you (Qarliqyol)"

After traveling for ten days, Ishtan, Lya, Gosthung, and the jade traders arrived at Derekh. Ishtan began teaching Gosthung and Lya some basic meditative techniques. Gosthung had trouble at first, but was beginning to become accustomed to controlling his inner energy in small amounts. Lya was quickly able to learn, but soon became bored and would go to listen to the jade traders' stories.

As the entered the gates of Derekh, Ishtan breathed in the familiar air. He had spent ten years in Derekh learning the sagely arts. He excelled quickly due to his low-key nature which was conducive to his humility, a key virtue for the cultivation of the sagely arts.The three travelers said farewell to the jade traders and wished them fortune. Ishtan intended to begin looking for Mihraz as well as his students to see if they had arrived safely in Derekh.

Gosthung and Lya wanted to explore the bazaar district - Gosthung to see the famous jade weapons of Derekh and Lya simply to see exotic animals or something interesting. The agreed to split up and reunite at dusk at the tower near the bazaar.

Derekh was a center for trade between Yangmu and Kharoi and the lands of the east. Lya had heard from the jade traders that things like bears that ate trees and people with ears and fangs like a wolf. The region of Derekh was also famous for its mining and craftmanship of jade. The Tashpaqa mountains were full of jade, and for this, Derekh had become very prosperous.

"Tsungmo (the Mey word for little sister)," Gosthung said, "where would you like to go first?" Gosthung knew that Lya was capricious and mischevious, quite opposite to Gosthung's own rigid nature, but he knew that she was his teacher's 'singil' and thus worthy of respect. He also admired her talent in mysticism and sometimes sighed that she had the potential to be much more powerful if she took things more seriously.

They went to the section of exotic animals, and Gosthung was amazed by animals that he had never even heard of before. The largest crowd was around some traders that had just arrived from the Grishma Plains.

"Come see tonight who is the king of the summer plains, the great Bashe serpent or the fearsome Agunan tiger!" A trader announced. He was taking bets for this match. Gosthung clicked his tongue at the traders, for to profit from death in occupations like these or of a mercenary was highly looked down upon in Mey. The trader noticed Lya looking intently at the serpent. "Would this madam be interested in taking a bet?" He said to her.

Lya looked at him. She noticed that his eyes were yellow and tall, much like the snake's. She shook her head and said to Gosthung "What's so great about this, let's go somewhere else." Gosthung agreed, and they left. 

Gosthung and Lya went to see the jade crafts. Neither had any money with them, but they decided that to look around would be fine. Gosthung was looking intently at a jade spear when he noticed shadows from the rooftop. He turned to Lya, but these shadows on the roof were much faster than him. Before he could reach her, four bandits surrounded her and sealed her accupoints. She managed to summon a fire, but it quickly disappeared after her accupoints became sealed, though it did burn one of the bandits, who cursed. Gosthung took an arrow and shot it at a bandit, being careful not to hit Lya. The bandits dodged, but it hit the burnt one squarely in the chest. The rest of the bandits grabbed Lya and began to run. Gosthung chased after them and shot two more arrows, but redirected them toward the sky at the last second when they hid behind a passerby. He cursed under his breath.

The bandits turned a corner, and Gosthung lost them. He jumped onto a rooftop and looked around the area. The bazaar was crowded, so he had trouble finding the bandits. He then spotted a pair of horns in the crowd which led him to the other bandits. He jumped to a nearby rooftop and shot two arrows, which hit two, who collapsed, as people around began scattering. The last bandit turned toward an alley, which Gosthung could not see from the roof. He jumped down and followed them toward the narrow alley. Suddenly, the bandit threw a jade bi at him. The bi was extremely fast, but Gosthung quickly dodged. But the bi seemed to follow him and while it looked to be headed in one direction it quickly redirected toward him and ended up hitting him directly in the chest. Having never dealt with jade before, he underestimated its weight, so the jade bi hit him directly, putting him on his back. Still disoriented, he semi-blindly shot an arrow from the ground, aimed for the bandit's head, but it missed and grazed the corner of his eye. The bandit yelled in pain, but he held onto Lya and ran off.

When Gosthung got back on his feet, he had lost the bandit and Lya. He knew he had to find Ishtan to find a way to fight the man with the jade bi. He went to the bazaar tower and saw Ishtan waiting there.

七夏 二十四年 云月 二十日

24th Year of the 7th Summer, 20th Day of the Month of Clouds.

When Ishtan heard the news about how bandits had kidnapped Lya, he and Gosthung rushed into a winehouse and took the first seats.

"These people," Ishtan said in a low voice, "did they have tails?" Gosthung was surprised but realized that the bandits, though they jumped like tailed people, did not have tails, making them very mysterious. He told this to Ishtan.

Ishtan let out a deep breath and put his hands together. "This is a heretical sect called the Dilin," he explained, "they cut off their tails when they join, and some of them can use mysticism. The bandit who threw the jade bi must have been able to control it that way."During his education in the Galau Sect, Ishtan had learned extensively of this prominent heretical sect that had been banished to the caves of the western Tashpaqa mountains. They had been growing in numbers in recent years, and began smuggling and mercenary activities. Now that they had reached the capital city, Ishtan worried.

Ishtan blamed himself. He knew that that 'dragon horns' and 'dragon eyes' were extremely rare and valuable items in the black market, though they came from the hunted Zaj people, not from actual dragons. He had told Lya to cover her horns before they entered the city, but she refused, as the horns of a Zaj are considered to be their pride that is never to be covered.

"Ishtan-gegan (gegan is the word for teacher in the Mey dialect), how can we save her?" Gosthung asked. Ishtan admired the straightforward nature of his 'uku,' who could always see a direct solution to complex problems. Ishtan was well-versed in knowledge and the mystic arts, but he knew little about things like fighting strategies.

They heard someone near them laugh loudly. "An old man and a dumb soldier boy want to save a princess." she said. They turned toward the eavesdropper. Gosthung stood up angrily. "So soldier boy wants to trade hands" she taunted, "he cannot even save his princess, what use is he?"

Before Ishtan could stop them, Gosthung drew his sword and charged toward her. "If you want to know the strength of a Mey, now is the time!" he said. She drew two sabres and blocked his strike, trapping it between the two swords masterfully. She clapped two hands together and said "not bad!" Gosthung did not notice before, but now saw clearly that two of this woman's hands had trapped his sword, and the other two were clapping. This woman was an atapa, the four-armed people of the northern Summer Kingdoms of Grishma.

She used one of her clapping hands to quickly punch Gosthung, just as he freed his sword, narrowly dodging her punch. She too kout two more sabres and began to swing them at Gosthung. He blocked her strikes, but with four hands, they seemed to be coming at double the speed. Sparks began to fly from his sword as he blocked and dodged her strikes. He knew that his stamina would not be able to hold his position much longer, so he jumped in the air for relief. However, the woman grabbed his leg as he jumped in the air, bringing him back toward the ground. As he fell, he used his tail to whip the woman's face, leaving a mark while he hit the ground hard. The woman also fell to the ground from the force of his tail. Before they could either get up. Tree roots emerged from the ground and tied their arms to the ground.

"We wish not to fight," Ishtan said, "only to save our friend. Forgive this beggar's rudeness." He said as he loosened the roots. He asked her purpose for eavesdropping their conversation.

"Heaven will fall sooner than when you two will be able to find your friend." she said. Gosthung became agitated again, but Ishtan waved a hand at him. "Why is that?" he asked.

"There are many of those dirty thieves, and they are near impossible to find." she said.

Ishtan, noticing that she had used the word 'dirty thieves,' said "What have they taken from you?"

"Something important, and I plan to go and retrieve it tonight. The old man and soldier boy can come too if they would like."  She said, but she knew that she would not be able to handle the Dilin by herself and needed help. She happened to overhear these two's conversation, and hoped to convince them to help her, but it turned out much differently than expected.

They sat down and began to talk. The woman's name was Sabuja Pyanta, a warrior from Aguna. She had been spying on the bandits for the past few days, and managed to locate their black market which she planned on raiding that night. They agreed on a deal: she would help Ishtan and Gosthung save Lya, if they would help her save her precious item from the Dilin. She had originally asked them to help her burn the entire place down, but they managed to come to a compromise.

七夏 二十四年 云月 二十日

24th Year of the 7th Summer, 20th Day of the Month of Clouds.

Within an hour of being captured, Ti Lya's accupoints slowly began to unseal. She was in a cage. She looked around and saw there were other cages beside her. "Where am I?" She yelled. Agni she produced fire toward the bars of the cage, but to no effect. "Don't bother," she heard a voice say to her, "the bars are made of strong material." The voice was deep and resounding, and shocked Lya in the first moment she heard it.

She turned to the cage next to her. She gasped. In the cage was a large man with the legs of a horse. His face was round and his eyes narrow, and he wore a beard and tied black hair. He laughed heartily. "Don't be alarmed little dragon, I am no warrior. I am Tsenkeromd of the Shargutal clan, the greatest singer in all of Kharoi. I was known in my land as the Steel Voice of the-"

”How were you captured?" Lya did not care for these honorifics, but was astonished someone as imposing and as large as this man could be captured by the much smaller linren bandits that took her.

He laughed at the girls' directness. "I drank too much wine one night and fell asleep on the streetside. When I had awoke, they had collared and chained me with strong jade. It took twelve of them to hold me down, and I was unable to stomp even a single one of them. These linren are much too agile for me." He pulled on his chains only too find they were too strong to be broken.

"What will they do with us?" Lya asked. Before he could answer, three guards walked in. They were staggering and laughing, with flushed faces and leaning on their weapons to walk. They were quite obviously drunk.

"Hey horseman!" One of the guards addressed Tsenkeromd. “We found an instrument among your belongings. You must be a singer. Why don't you sing for us?" He said as he clanged his spear on the cage.

"I would be delighted." The Tsenkeromd answered. He noticed one of the guards' eyes was injured and closed shut. He looked toward him and sang in a deep voice:

"A slashed eye from battle,
To boast of the glories of war.
Oh if I had the same,
If but to save me the sight of his hideous face!"

The other two guards laughed at the song while the one-eyed guard angrily rushed to the cage. "Perhaps you would enjoy the taste of my halberd!" He said as he brandished his weapon. Tsenkeromd smiled and sang another verse:

"A warrior is before me,
With fire in his voice
But I do not know which is more empty:
His threats or his mind!"

The two watching guards roared in laughter, and Lya enjoyed the embarassment of her captor who had been struck in the eye by Gosthung. Enraged, the one-eyed guard unlocked the door and rushed in to strike Tsenkeromd. He took a drunken swing and missed, and Tsenkromd quickly headbutted the guard, knocking him straight to the ground. He was barely able to reach the guards' halberd before bringing it to the chain on his front hoof, breaking it. By the time the other guards had got their bearings and took their weapons. Tsenkeromd had already unchained himself and rushed toward them.

They tried to run, but Tsenkeromd's powerful hooves trampled them. Lya watched in amazement at his strength and speed. Tsenkeromd came to her cage and unlocked it.

“Come, little dragon, we must leave before more guards return."