Flying Swords 19 (Patreon)

I really intended to have this be the first sexy chapter, but everything else (the magic, the family, the potential murder plot) keeps pushi

I really intended to have this be the first sexy chapter, but everything else (the magic, the family, the potential murder plot) keeps pushing in between these two. I really tried to shorten this to get on with the relationship, but the story said, nah… we’ll keep you working for this one.

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“That's the White Cloud River.” Huang Yuan pointed to a lazy river at the bottom of a dangerously steep slope.  To the left of the path, the deep shadows hid the bottoms of majestic trees that soared so high into the sky that the tops seemed to vanish from sight. Poisonous vines and shade-loving flowers filled every inch of space. This place felt magical and dark and dangerous. Leander loved it. It felt safe in a way the city never had–the way the Ring City didn’t. He felt protected by the rich tapestry of flora that surrounded them.

“How do we get down there?” Xi asked.

“You walk until you reach one of the paths that leads down to the riverbank.” Yuan seemed unconcerned as he stared at them. Xi stared back.

Xi broke the silent standoff. “And where would these paths be?”

“Walk long enough and you'll find one,” Yuan said in a flat voice, “but my father requires my help today. Now that I have shown you the river, I must get back home.”

Alarm rose in Leander's chest. “Wait,” he said, but Yuan was already trotting away on the well-worn path back to the Ring City.

“I get the feeling he doesn't like us,” Xi said. “Did you happen to piss in Yuan’s congee this morning?”

“I told you there were cultural assumptions around adoption.” Leander let his magic run through the nearby trees as he searched for any dangerous wildlife. He wanted to believe that Huang Yuan wouldn’t have left them if nian or dragons or poisonous animals nearby, but he had very little trust left. His magic warned him of birds with their talons sitting in the trees and snakes sliding across branches and toads hopping through the leaf litter, but he couldn’t tell if any of those were poisonous. In China, danger did not follow the same rules as in the Americas. 

“That doesn't look like a cultural assumption. That looks like he hates you,” Xi said in a thoughtful tone.

“His culture teaches him that people who are adopted are greedy and dangerous. If he wants to protect the Nie family, it’s not surprising that he would dump us in the woods. He probably wants to reenact Hansel and Gretel.” 

“Are you saying we're going to find a gingerbread house?” Xi’s fingers twitched.  Leander looked around, but no shadows responded to Xi’s distress, so his qi pathways were likely still damaged.

“He might expect us to run into something dangerous, but he underestimates my magic. With this many plants around us, we are perfectly safe.” Leander started down the path, watching the river side to find the path that led down to the riverbank.

When he glanced back, he saw Xi wrinkle his nose.

“Don't you trust me?” Leander asked. He tried to make his voice sound teasing, but he lacked the skill. He sounded resentful.

“Trust you? Yes. I absolutely trust you. However, we are in a magical forest in a magically enlarged space with magical monsters. I would feel more comfortable if my shadow magics worked. Let's go back to the house and come out again later.” His voice had a pleading note that made Leander want to agree, but he couldn’t. Their position in town was far too tenuous for him to go back on his word to present Mother Huiling with a ling basket.

“I will feel any animal that approaches, and I have enough plants to defend us.”

Xi scoffed. “So you're giving yourself good odds against the dragon?”

Leander rested his hand against a poplar tree absorbing the enthusiasm and endurance. Nothing could make him feel as determined or powerful as a mature poplar stretching toward the sky. “Dragons in China are more likely to have a conversation with you than eat you. Do not insult eastern dragons.”

“I would prefer to have my powers available before we face anything with teeth large enough to eat me, whether the creature wants to have a conversation first or not.”

“Our position is too precarious. If you want to go back, feel free.” Leander continued walking. “I need to make the basket I promised, and we are in a spotlight, so I don’t dare go back on my word.” A tree whispered about a bird passing through its leaves, and moss revealed a huge anthill with tiny feet rushing about.

“Trust me, I noticed the spotlight thing. Your lover’s family is a little more important than I thought.”

Leander snorted.  He would be far happier to live in a shadowed corner. “We can’t change reality, and as a new son of the household, I need to show that I am going to contribute to the home rather than coming across like a leech who would use his status as an adopted son to steal what isn't his.”

“Then buy them something. I saw that pile of money they presented to you.”

“I have no idea what they would value, nor do I know who would be considered a craftsman appropriate for their status.” Life would be so much easier if Leander had been adopted into a working class family, but he hadn’t been, and he wouldn’t dishonor the Nie family. “Auntie Daiyu values my baskets.” Leander was quite through indulging Xi’s ridiculous arguments, so he quickened his stride, his eyes searching for a path down to the river. Part of him hoped Xi would turn and go back to the city, but he followed behind mumbling the entire way. 

Leander took the opportunity to tangle his magic with some of the great century trees. They carried a weight Leander had never felt before. Their power seemed to reach for him rather than simply passively accepting it. Hidden in the shadows, Leander magically tasted vines and flowers and tiny hidden fungus that he had never before felt. He had visited every botanical garden, every forest, every park that he ever had access to, even when he had lived in China, but these plants were wholly unfamiliar, not variations on species he knew but entirely new species.

He found a vine that whispered of dreams and magic, and he stopped, startled at the potency of the impression.

Xi came to his side. “Did you hear something?” He was on alert, his gaze darting about the shadowed forest clearly searching for some predator.

“No, I just identified a new species of plant. It's fascinating.”

Xi blinked at him before shoving his shoulder as if they were still boys in middle school. “You scared the shit out of me.”

Leander lifted an eyebrow. “All I did was stop in the middle of the path. If you’re scaring yourself, that’s your problem.” Leander knew he was being unkind, especially given that Xi couldn’t access his shadow magic. If Leander were unable to feel the strength of the trees around him or the joy of the flowers or the tickling poison of the vines that grew in shadow, he would not be unpleasant. He would be homicidal. “I can do this task myself,” he said in a gentler tone. Instead of accepting that as a peace offering and retreating back to town where he would be more comfortable, Xi got a defiant look in his eye and clenched his jaw.

“I'm not leaving you in a mythological forest by yourself.”

Leander spread his arms wide and gestured to the landscape around them. “Where would a plant mage be safer?”

Xi crossed his arms. “I'm not leaving.”

Leander sighed. “Then we need to start looking for the path because I will not leave until I have woven the most beautiful basket I can for Mother Huiling.”

“Then let's get this over with.” Xi rushed ahead, stomping his feet either in some imitation of a toddler tantrum or to frighten off any predators, Leander wasn't sure which. 

They walked at least a mile and perhaps two before the trees thinned and a sharp U-turn in the path led down to the banks of the river. “Finally.” Xi navigated the narrow path and shallow steps carved into the earth.

“I hate these stupid robes.” Xi grabbed the hem of his robe and lifted it all the way to his waist showing off a pair of boots and bare legs.

“Aren't you wearing pants?” A smile fought to raise the corners of Leander’s mouth.

Xi looked at Leander wide-eyed and startled. “I can wear pants?”

Leander lifted the hem of his own robe. It was shorter than Xi’s ending mid-shin so that his boots were always visible. But Leander lifted the robe to show his pants tucked into the top of them.”

Xi’s mouth fell open. “Why don't I have pants in my wardrobe?” he demanded.

Leander suspected it was a cruel joke, but he wasn't sure who had purchased Xi's clothing. It had shown up in their room the same way Leander's had, although Leander's were the clothing that Heng had purchased.

“I shall ask Mother Huiling about local clothing stores or finding a tailor,” Leander said. 

“And I thought Chinese people were polite.”

“Polite, yes, but polite isn’t the same as nic,” Leander pointed out. “Now, we need to find reeds for baskets?”

Xi grumbled as he lead the way down to the lazily moving river. “You may find people prank you because of me,” Leander warned. Xi still didn't understand the depths of distrust these people would have for an adopted son, although to be fair, the C-dramas he'd watched featured adopted daughters not sons. Maybe adopted sons were so taboo no one even dared make a show out of them. 

Once they’d reached the stony riverside, Leander sent out threads of his magic into the algae that clung to the rocks, tiny bits constantly torn off to flow down the river. Algae never fit comfortably with his magic, but he could force it over short periods of time, and that's what he did. He tied knots of the magic around the algae that floated downstream and closed his eyes as he let himself float with it. It was not long before he found what he sought, a widening in the river where the shallows tumbled over rock and reeds grew tall and strong. Those would be perfect for a large basket.

He opened his eyes and found Xi right beside him, his back to Leander as he scanned the unbroken wilderness around them. “And you wondered why I don't want you to be alone in the forest,” Xi said with a snort. “I have shadow magic, so I know all too well how easy it is to get lost in your magic and lose track of what your body is doing.”

“I did not lose track of my body,” Leander said dryly.

“A dragon or a lion or a griffin or whatever lives in these woods could gut you before you realized you were dead. And then you would look back at your body and say ‘oops.’”

“I would not.”

“Would too.”

Leander glared at Xi. “I know how to take care of myself.”

“And I know how to have my partner’s back.”

Leander clenched his fists as he strangled the desire to pummel Xi in his stupidly handsome face. Instead, he power walked down the riverbed in search of those reeds he had found. Rocks turned under his shoes and water pulled at his legs, but he ignored that.

Xi came splashing after him. “I didn't mean any of that as an insult. Everyone needs someone to watch their back.”

“Unlike some idiots who chose a career filled with individuals shooting at each other, I don't generally engage in the kind of risky behavior that would require someone to watch my back, and I include walking along this river as one of those safe activities. The plants are not registering the presence of a large predator.”

“Magical forest,” Xi said, and then he repeated louder as if Leander were incapable of hearing him, “Magical forest! I would have one hundred percent faith in you in a normal forest, but you are ignoring the word magical. You don't know the rules for a magical forest.”

Leander stumbled as a loose rock slipped under his foot. “They appear to be exactly the same rules as a mundane forest.”  He gritted his teeth as his ankle dully throbbed even if it held his weight.  He kept walking. He would prefer to walk the riverbed, but the slope was so steep here that the river cut through the land, leaving no dry path he could walk.

“You won’t feel that way when a magical creature eats you,” Xi warned.

“Then I guess I will be part of the magical circle of life, and it won't matter to me anymore.” Leander gave him a malicious grin.

Xi caught his arm and hauled him around so fast that Leander nearly fell to his knees.  Xi was so close they were nose to nose, and he snarled, “Do not talk about your death like that.”

Leander tried to pull himself free, but Xi’s fingers dug into his arm. “We’re all going to die eventually. Hell, we’re the last two standing from our sad and broken little family, so I thought you would've learned that already.” Leander sneered when he couldn’t pull himself free. True, he could call the plants to his aid, but he didn’t want to accidentally kill Xi out of frustration.

Leander thought he had seen Xi angry, but those were pale emotions compared to the fury on his face now. “Don't even joke,” he said, enunciating each word as if he struggled to say them.

“I'm not saying that I plan to chase my death,” Leander said. “I have an obligation to Shanlin, and more than that, I am terrified of the idea of dying. I'm terrified by what comes after dying. I will not rush toward death like some foolish teenager who thinks it’s romantic.”

The fire eased in Xi’s expression, and he loosened the hold he had on Leander's arms. “You scare me sometimes,” Xi whispered.

“I think your bruised magic is causing you some emotional difficulties,” Leander said.

Xi took a step back and rubbed a hand over his face. “Are you accusing me of being hysterical and irrational because I don't want you to die?”

“I'm accusing you because I never said I wanted to die and I don't,” Leander snapped. “It was a joke, and you’re overreacting.” Leander ripped himself free before heading downriver again. Awkward silence replaced awkward conversation, which was an improvement. Within a few minutes, they reached a cluster of tall reeds.

Leander let his magic run out his fingers and tangle with the plants. Reeds were a balm to his soul, accepting and open and peaceful in a way that few other plants were. Reeds thrived wherever they put down roots; they had a quiet strength that survived flood and drought. Leander’s awareness sank into the reeds, and he waded to the shore. 

“You can’t joke about dying. All we have is each other,” Xi said, following behind. 

Leander sat on the shore, damp rocks under his ass.  He started with several simple baskets: round and oval, some with curved sides and some with straight. 

“Are we going to talk about this?” Xi asked.

“No,” Leander said, his emotions too sunk into the plants to hold any sway over him.  He started a grand basket, letting the magic flow into the reeds, detaching the roots, withering the leaves away and weaving the stalks in a pattern so complex that human hands could not manage it. Small reeds the width of blades of grass created the texture of feathers. He wove tiny reeds into a curving neck. Magic strained, forcing him away from the scales and claws he had intended to weave, but he yielded like the reeds. Sometimes plants and magic chose their own form. 

As the sides of the basket rose, the sweeping tail of a phoenix followed the curve. The phoenix wings become a handle on one side while the other swept up. The head appeared with a long, graceful beak that lifted away from the basket and became a sculptural element of the basket just below the rim. Leander feared such a delicate structure would break too easily, and he poured his magic into it, blessing it with strength and praying for it to survive many years. 

The rightness of the basket filled him…not joy but something similar to it, some feeling that was stained with contentment and pride. When he finally broke his consciousness away from the reeds and the basket, he stared in wonder. It stood at least four feet tall and the phoenix was woven in every shade of brown from the dried reeds. Thousand shades of brown hinted at fire at life at movement.

Xi was crouching down next to him. “Oh my God, that is stunning.”

Leander’s head was still swimming from the magic and he couldn't quite catch his breath. Xi gave him a concerned look but then sat down next to him. The few reeds that had survived Leander’s basketmaking radiated growth, their roots reaching into the soil where their fellows had vanished.

“That was intense. Were you meditating?” Xi asked.

“Maybe,” Leander said. When he had lived in China before, his teacher had told him that meditation was the surest way to cultivate magic, but he had taught meditation as a process of letting go, and Leander sank himself into his plants.”

“You sat for hours without moving. It felt like mediation.”

“It’s my magic,” Leander said. He had no other explanation. “We have to get these baskets back to the Nie house.” In addition to the grand phoenix basket, he had a dozen smaller baskets in various shapes and sizes.  Leander started to nest the smaller baskets inside the larger ones.

Leander considered the hillside before sending his magic out. It was sluggish and dull and tired, but it obeyed his call. The vegetation was well rooted and unlikely to rip free under their hands and feet.

“Can we talk about what you said now?” Xi asked.

Leander frowned. “What did I say?”

“Joking about dying,” Xi said, his voice carrying an edge of anger.

“We have to be very careful with the baskets,” Leander said.

Xi opened his mouth, closed it, pressed his lips together and then took a visible breath. For someone who usually controlled his emotions, he might as well wave semaphore flags. “I understand.  That phoenix basket looks like it belongs in a museum. That said, I don’t give a rat’s ass about the damn baskets if you’re going to joke about your life.”

Leander left the smaller baskets stacked in an unwieldy tower and braced the phoenix basket on his hip before he started climbing the hillside.  His fear of damaging the design nearly made him insist on walking a long way, but he had an overwhelming urge to get away from Xi, and wading a mile or two upstream only to double back… yeah, he didn’t have patience for that. 

“Are you seriously walking away from this conversation?” Xi demanded, but at least he made himself useful by grabbing the remainder of the baskets before following Leander up the slope.

“How shocking. You are able to recognize reality when it is five feet in front of you.” Leander was panting from the effort of climbing the slope, but he had never left physical exertion stop him from calling out stupidity.

Xi had almost caught up, despite his awkward burden, when a strange cry–halfway between a peacock’s shrill scream in a soprano’s high note–filled the air. Leaves rustled in a sudden wind, and a giant bird swooped down at Xi. Xi threw the baskets he was carrying upward. The motion left him standing on the steep slope, and his eyes grew large as gravity pulled him backward. He wasn’t sliding down the slope but in danger of tumbling headfirst toward the rocks below. His own basket forgotten, Leander grabbed for Xi's hand, catching it at the last second. 

For one moment he hoped that disaster had been averted. Then a sharp sting in his shoulders loosened his hold and a great flapping about his head made Leander lose his balance. Both of them went tumbling down the hill, the peacock cry chasing them as they fell.