by J J Moriarty
The Qi. Hyzou thought.
Hyzou turned it outwards. Though he was blind, using his Qi Hyzou saw the room he was in. He saw the tools and the table. Hyzou saw The Whisperer; whose Qi was so bright it blinded. Hyzou saw Myirs at The Whisperer’s right hand, whose Qi was duller, but bright still. Hyzou could hear all the sounds, taste all the tastes, feel all the touches, smell the air.
Not only that, but his Qi could see much further than any eye could. He could see beyond the walls of this house, wherein it was only he, The Whisperer, Myirs and Abe asleep in the corner. Out in the streets of Lamybla there were thousands and thousands of people, all living. Hyzou picked out the bright flairs of the Servants of Qi, that lived in their embassy together. He saw Vo, whose Qi burned as brightly as her brother’s. He saw further too. He saw to Piquea, to the Lake Cities in the east, to the Mountain Cities in the west. He saw the great rainforest in the south, and to the north, the mountains that stretched to the very sky. Nestled in the side of the mountain was Uqing, the home of the Servants. There, the Qi burned so bright Hyzou could see it as a never breaking beacon in the night.
Only one light was brighter even than Uqing. There, at the top of the mountains was a small gathering of such raw power even time seemed to cringe in its wake.
The gods. Hyzou thought. They are real.
Hyzou returned to the room he was in. The Whisperer had noticed nothing. He hadn’t sensed Hyzou’s awakening yet, and Hyzou couldn’t speak. But he recognised that perhaps he didn’t need The Whisperer to get him out of these chains. The Qi was rushing not only through his brain, but through his muscles and bones too. Clenching his arms and bunching his shoulders Hyzou strained against the chains. The metal bent, the metal snapped.
The Whisperer leaped to his feet. The Whisperer shouted something at him, but Hyzou couldn’t understand. Listening through the Qi, Hyzou couldn’t understand language.
Hyzou kicked himself out of the chains that held his feet. He fell to his knees, collapsed on the ground. The Whisperer rushed over and grabbed Hyzou, holding him in his arms.
The Whisperer said something else.
Hyzou coughed, and in among it was a laugh. Hyzou smiled, to show The Whisperer that he understood.
The Whisperer however, frowned. He clicked his fingers and Myirs appeared at his side. From within his strange clothing, Myirs took out a bottle. The Whisperer took it, then drank half the liquid. He placed it to Hyzou’s lips and poured the rest into his mouth.
No sooner had the drops run down Hyzou’s paralysed throat, than he felt the strangest sensation overcome him. He left the world behind and found himself in a dark room.
“You truly are extraordinary, the most powerful human I’ve ever met.”
Hyzou turned and faced The Whisperer.
“You can talk to me. You can talk to me, though I’m deaf. I thought the Qi couldn’t understand language?” Hyzou said.
“It can’t”, The Whisperer said.
“How are we speaking?” Hyzou said.
“In the mountains there is a plant. The ekstasis plant. The Servants of Qi grow it there. It acts to see you removed from your body. When someone takes it, and their Qi is powerful enough, they can talk to another mind who has taken it. Sometimes even with miles of distance between the two minds”, The Whisperer said.
“Abe told me about this. That’s how we’re talking now?” Hyzou said.
“It has its uses”, The Whisperer said.
Hyzou nodded his head.
“I’m so tired”, Hyzou said.
“I’d train you myself. Inform you of all the power you could have. You will be immensely powerful in combat, but there is so much more to learn, so much the Qi can do beyond just fighting. Unfortunately, Hyzou, I was born with my abilities as powerful as they are today. While my personality has developed over time, my knowledge and Qi were immaculate from the age of one”, The Whisperer said. “And it is only one who has struggled with a process that can teach it to another, so I’m afraid I’d fail to teach you. The Servants of Qi though, that is the best place to learn, they’ll teach you all you need. The Sparrow, Abe’s old master, he’s who you must go to next. There, you’d learn your full potential. Go to the Archai, and they’ll train you.”
“No”, Hyzou said. “I’m going nowhere. I’m fighting that beast. Do I have the chance to beat it now?”
“You’ll soon see. You’ve become a man. A man who can stand amongst the gods”, The Whisperer said.
Hyzou touched his eyes and ears, then shrugged. The Whisperer understood.
“No, you won’t be deaf and blind for much longer. I can undo things I have done, if they are small and concise”, The Whisperer said. “It is not quite going back in time, but it is something.”
Hyzou smiled and nodded, to show The Whisperer that he understood what he meant.
“I’ll place you in your bed now and clean up in here. The process of reversing wounds is not a pleasant one, and you would be better off asleep for it”, The Whisperer said.
Hyzou laughed, a guttural sound, tinged with blood.
“I know, I know”, The Whisperer said. “It sounds strange to ease your pain after just putting you through the surgery. But pain is only helpful when it is necessary. Tomorrow, when you awaken, you will have all your senses returned to you.”
And the Whisperer lifted Hyzou up into his arms, carrying him from the house.
“Sleep”, The Whisperer said.
It was easier than usual. Hyzou just withdrew from his Qi and descended back into the dark silence of his mind.
CHAPTER 17
Hyzou grabbed at his eyes, he grabbed at the straw, he grabbed his tongue. He clapped and heard the noise echo off the walls. He saw the bat dozing in the corner of his room, he smelled the scent of the city wafting through the cracks in the shed’s wall.
Hyzou got to his feet, breathed in deeply and owned his envy. He fell into his Qi. The vista of senses available to him was astounding. He could notice and understand everything around him.
Hyzou realised so much about his own bedchamber. The daub falling from the walls every few seconds, the thousands of creatures that roamed his floor and his bed eating anything that fell off him, the flecks of dust dancing as they collided with the light in the room.
Above him mosquitos were circling. Without looking, Hyzou snapped his hand into the air above him and crushed them all between his thumb and forefinger. His hand moved with the speed of a toad’s tongue.
He went to his shaving bowl and threw some of the water on his face – he could feel each drop as it clung to his skin and rolled slowly off. He heard them as they fell on the ground. The bronze razor was blunted from use, but it was still just sharp enough for Hyzou to cut through each of his hairs without damaging his skin. The hairs he let fall to the ground, and those that stayed on the blade he brushed off with the deft touch of his index finger.
Hyzou dressed. He felt each cotton fibre’s weight against each hair. When he went outside he could sense every one of the raindrops as they approached him.
Hyzou was the only one in the garden.
This was strange. Abe always rose before dawn. Hyzou walked to the house proper to investigate.
The old door creaked open. The house was a mess. It looked like pilferers had been in and had searched every nook and cranny to find some valuables. Abe was not a tidy man, but this morning his house looked more like a scene of a battle, with litter and pottery strewn around like fallen soldiers. This was not just the quarters of an untidy drunk.
Hyzou found his master in a corner, fast asleep.
“Abe… Abe, are you ok?” Hyzou asked, shaking the old Servant.
Abe’s eyes fluttered open.
“Hyzou?” Abe asked.
“Abe, what happened here?” Hyzou asked.
“What happened where? Oh Hyzou, I had the worst dream”, Abe said.
Hyzou helped Abe up, and then the old man’s face turned pale.
“Oh, gods. I
t’s been years since I woke to a sight like this”, Abe said.
“A sight like what?” Hyzou asked.
“I did this. In my sleep, I imagine”, Abe said.
“You can do that?” Hyzou said.
Abe took a stool and sat upon it.
“Yes. When the Anarchy ended, and I was released from my torture cell after years of pain, I found myself unable to function as I would like. I walked out to the wilderness, slept each night under the stars, and strove around more as beast than man”, Abe said.
“What does that have to do with this?” Hyzou asked.
“Back then, every night I would dream I was still a captive. In my sleep I would thrash around breaking all. A man is only as healthy as his sleep, as my father used to say”, Abe said.
“Why has it returned now?” Hyzou asked.
“Lately I’ve been feeling rather ill”, Abe said.
“What’s wrong? How can I help with it?” Hyzou asked.
“It’s not a physical illness Hyzou, unfortunately. But oh, how I have found myself pining for the days of my youth. Perhaps your vitality in training reminds me too much of myself”, Abe said.
“Do you want something to drink?” Hyzou asked.
“Yes, I think so. There are some itches that can only be scratched by rice wine”, Abe said.
Hyzou got up and began looking around for a pot with some rice wine, but he found none, all were either empty or broken.
“There’s nothing here”, Hyzou said.
Abe groaned. “I’ve got a terrible thirst. Maybe you won’t forgive me, but I am in no fit state to train you. Will you begin on the exercises yourself while I go and get a drink? What a poor teacher I am”,
“Not a problem”, Hyzou said.
“Thank you. You’ve always been such a considerate pupil, Hyzou. If only the Servants had found you before the sack of Piquea, you would have learned so much from the Sparrow. From the rest of the Archai. So much more than you learned from me”, Abe said.
Hyzou saw tears glistening in the old man’s eyes.
Hyzou left him to his melancholy and walked from the room out to the garden. The old stakes were still standing, half a foot across. They were made of solid hardtree. Hyzou breathed deeply, recognised the Qi burning inside of him. He kicked the stake.
The force of it produced a loud crack, that echoed through the garden. Three fissures ran through the wood, and the stake split in half. Both pieces fell to the ground causing a shudder.
The strength required to do that... It’s not human. Hyzou thought. I just felled a tree with one blow from my foot.
He walked over to the side of the garden, where Abe had kept the weapons he had Hyzou train with. Hyzou picked up a dagger. The bronze had been hewn recently, and no rust coated the clean blade. Hyzou grabbed either end, and strained. His forearm muscles thrummed, and the bronze bent beneath the weight, before it snapped in two.
Truly inhuman. Hyzou thought.
There was just one more test to try. Standing still, and arching his calves, Hyzou leaped. The power pushed him over the stakes, and carried him ten, twenty, thirty, forty feet high into the air. At the top of the jump, only the Stadia and the Sun Tower were higher than him in Lamybla. Coming down, Hyzou landed quietly on his feet on the other side of the garden.
Hyzou sensed Abe coming into the house in the distance.
Then he realised what this meant. He could locate others without using any of his senses. Only his Qi, which showed him the other Qis surrounding him for miles. No one would ever be able to sneak up on Hyzou again.
Hyzou dusted himself down and tried to think of an excuse for the broken stake.
“As I did chime”, Abe said.
“Pardon me?” Hyzou said.
“Nothing. Nothing”, Abe said.
The old man’s eyes were dazed and confused, and he had spilt rice wine all down his front. Abe didn’t even look at the stakes.
“Are you ok?” Hyzou asked.
“Of course. Of course. Tell me Hyzou, how were your exercises this morning, have you improved since yesterday?” Abe asked.
Hyzou looked around him and the garden. He could hear everything, the insects, the bats, and the Lamyblans that walked by the doors outside.
“No. My skills are the same”, Hyzou said.
“Good. Good”, Abe said. “We will improve them tomorrow though. Yes, we shall.”
I really need a proper teacher. Hyzou thought.
Abe sat down on the ground.
“Are you ok?” Hyzou asked.
“I just… I had such a bad dream”, Abe said.
“I’m sorry”, Hyzou said.
“You weren’t even born when the seeds of my nightmares were sown”, Abe mumbled. “Don’t apologise for them”
Hyzou frowned, as he realised something strange.
“Abe, could you tell me how those more complicated powers work? You know, illusion and control. I know what the ekstasis plant does, how it lets Servants of Qi talk to each other with thought. But the other powers. Can you tell me about them?” Hyzou said.
“No. Not in my current state. No. I never learned how to use them myself. I was too weak, they required too much power. I cannot tell you”, Abe said.
But Hyzou had an idea. Reaching out with his Qi, Hyzou contacted Abe’s own Qi. He tried to subsume Abe’s Qi into his, to force Abe to perform his will. Instantly, Hyzou realised that this was impossible. Abe’s mind and Qi were too complicated for this to happen. Hyzou may have woken up this morning strong, but he was still limited.
He had another idea. Using his Qi, Hyzou targeted Abe’s sight. Hyzou covered it up, blinding Abe. Then, with all his mind, Hyzou imagined a simple queensnake. Hyzou raised his hands as if he were holding something.
“Look, Abe, see my new pet”, Hyzou said.
Abe focussed his eyes just long enough to see what was before him. A look of revulsion passed over his face.
“Why would you take that thing as your pet? It’s poisonous Hyzou”, Abe said.
“Is it?” Hyzou asked.
Abe swiped at the air before Hyzou. Trying to grab where he thought the snake was. Abe’s hand went through nothing.
“That’s strange. I must be much drunker than I thought. You will get rid of the serpent though, it’s evil. And don’t hold it like that, you’ll make it angry”, Abe said.
Hyzou shifted his empty hands, to where he thought Abe was seeing the snake’s neck.
“That’s much better”, Abe said.
“Do you really want me to get rid of it?” Hyzou asked.
“Yes! Of course! Keeping it would be a folly”, Abe said.
“But look, it’s a magic snake”, Hyzou said.
Abe frowned, then looked down at Hyzou’s hands.
“Seems perfectly normal to me”, Abe said.
Hyzou concentrated. Using all the will he could muster, Hyzou forced his mind’s eye to see the snake’s skin as pink and green and blue. The colours all moving up and down the long body in patterns.
“Ahhhhh!” Abe screamed. “What’s this monster?”
Abe tried to get up, scrambling away from Hyzou. Hyzou punched Abe, who passed out.
“Uh”, Hyzou said.
Hyzou had forgotten how strong he was. He shook Abe’s shoulders, and managed to wake his master up.
“Oh. Hyzou. I’ve had such a terrible dream”, Abe said.
“I know. You told me”, Hyzou said.
“I… I did?” Abe said.
“Perhaps you should go to bed”, Hyzou said.
“I think so”, Abe said.
Hyzou scooped Abe up, and lifted him in his arms.
“The dreams Hyzou, they were nightmares”, Abe said.
“Where can I get the money for my lunch?” Hyzou asked.
“Money… Money…” Abe murmured. “Yes, money. I will sleep through my lunch. You can take what the girl brings for me.”
“Thank you”, Hyzou said.
Inside, he lay
Abe on the bed. Abe sighed his contentment.
Hyzou left him there and went back outside. Feeling the rain heavy upon him, Hyzou breathed deeply, then exhaled. He owned his envy. He found his Qi. The power that eked through his bones – he could feel it in every hair upon his head.
Hyzou screamed. He screamed loudly, he screamed until his lungs hurt. Then he stopped.
He had survived the surgery - metamorphosed into someone new. The same mind and same body, but within it was unlocked a power that Hyzou couldn’t even comprehend.
I need someone to explain it to me. Hyzou thought.
What he needed now was a teacher.
CHAPTER 18
The slave market was emptier, much emptier, than when Hyzou had passed through it last. He remembered it well, tied up in the back of Kyrios Nuya’s cart.
Today he was playing a different part. He was dressed heavily, long robes and a hood he had bought in a market for a song, money taken from Abe. He looked every inch the poor tradesman, hoping for a bargain at the slave markets to make his life easier.
Hyzou searched for a face he recognised among the slavers but that was no good. He knew no one. He hadn’t expected to.
He just selected someone at random, an ugly brute with long braided hair. He was lifting boxes up onto a podium, standing in shadow. He was too far away from anyone else for anyone to notice him.
“Have you a moment for a word?” Hyzou asked.
The man looked at him, face impatient and angry.
“I don’t handle no selling. Talk to an auctioneer”, the slaver said.
“I’m not looking for a slave that’s here”, Hyzou said. “I want a slave that had been sold long ago. I want the slaver who sold him.”
“Didn’t you hear me. I don’t handle no selling”, the slaver said.
“How about letting you keep your balls?” Hyzou asked.
The man frowned. “Fuck off.”
Hyzou was quick, and he cut the brute’s scream off. Hyzou closed one of his hands around the brute’s throat, the other around his testicles.
“I will tear them right off if you don’t help me. If you do, you’ll never see my face again”, Hyzou said.