by Philip Read
The Fall Of The Tribes by Philip Read
Category: Original
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Gender Bender, Harem, High Fantasy, Magic, Martial Arts, Multiple Lead Characters, Mythos, Supernatural
Status: Completed
Warnings: Gore, Profanity, Sexual Content, Traumatising content
Chapters: 133
Summary:This story is a continuation of the events that took place in Followers of The Way.
Follow the adventures of a few as they impact the lives of the many. The brave deeds of many, affecting the continuing lives of the few.
Follow the birth and death of heroes, villains, legends, myths, deities and worlds seen through the eyes of the few, some even mortal living fleeting futile lives destined for the cold kiss of death.
Prologue
There are seven habitable worlds accessible in our realm that we on Gaia can travel to. Two of which we have direct access to through the portals. Those being Aqualis the water world, and Terra the wild garden.
Each of these worlds was created in some part by the seven gods, the Universe and the Trinity. Of all seven worlds, Gaia is the strongest and the most unique.
She/He/It is the manifestation of one of the seven children of the Trinity made flesh. A patient, sapient world with knowledge and thoughts on a level we have no scale to measure against.
Gaia is continuously growing both in power, and size. A solar flare that would have left the planet a desolate wasteland only ten thousand revolutions ago, would now be reflected across our atmosphere, causing blindness to all that look upon it but not directly harming the world and it’s inhabitants.
A meteorite that would have cracked the planet in half only five thousand revolutions ago, would likely only make another ocean today. A short ice age at worst.
And she is already the largest planet known to support life at 14 billion square km. More than twice the surface area of Jupiter.
*
Though Gaia the goddess is now the weakest of the seven children of the Trinity in the spirit realm. Her power grows exponentially in the physical realm.
Something legend says the other gods will one day do something to change.
These are the words of The Ancient Of Days. Spoken to a group of Bantu village elders.
Recorded by: Babalwa of Norwood.
Chapter 1
Sachihiro
The journey from the Hito valleys is fast and mostly uneventful in terms othreats and attacks. Our travel is primarily during the 40 hours of night when the vampires can be with us for the duration as we journey to the tundra in all haste. Vampires are truly strange uncanny creatures and the speed with which they can move is astonishing to the extent that we, Asriel and I start travelling 10 hours before sunset, during the dusk hours and they still catch up relatively quickly.
Though they can’t maintain ultra speed for long, they can run without tiring at almost full speed for more than 40 hours straight. I’m not yet sure if its a trait of all vampires or it’s just the result of the elite training the Brave Blossoms undergo but there is something to their stamina that isn’t natural.
We skip the beautifully lush valleys between the mountain plateaus entirely as much as we can on our journey towards my home. Moving mainly at high altitudes from peak to peak, mountain to mountain using ropes and gliding kites we make good time.
Kites are a contraption I would have thought impossible if someone else would have explained the concept to me. But though the journey may be quicker it is also more perilous for the altitudes we have to reach and the mountain wind we have to steer across. The air is thin and brisk at 6000 meters above ground, at least that’s how high up Keiji says we are currently.
The route we take is quicker even without the gravity-defying kites we use to jump from cliff to cliff. Something I’m sure I would have refused to do had I the courage to be left behind on these clearly claimed mountains. I have felt what lives in some of these mountains and I’d rather risk a quick death flattened on Gaia than face anything that imperils my soul again, not after going through the forging.
Had I not been fasting for days I would have shit myself when they separated my soul from me and they were being gentle! The soul can endure pain and suffering the human body isn’t designed to endure, or even comprehend efficiently I’ve learnt since the forging and I apprciate the forethought put into the bodies design.
I still have bouts of phantom pain without a distinct source within me, a pain I really can’t identity or even ‘feel’ in any way I understand of the word. Yet I also can’t deny that something hurts within me and I’m ‘fucken’ sad all the time, I have no more ambitions or aspirations. At least not when my soul-sword is more than arms reach away, with it close or on me I feel almost fine. ‘Anhedonia’ the Watanabe call it, the feeling of not caring and losing interest in everything.
Had I not been in the hands of professional soul mages prepped and trained in the process of soul forging for centuries before being brought to the villages I’m sure I would have broken completely, becoming a complete imbecile useless as anything but a human shield or a door stopper. I sigh, thinking of the recurring phantom pain and suicidal thoughts. Something that is so far out of character that I know I’ve broken something fundamental deep within myself somehow, a vital spark of life. I’ve seen the same look in Mira and Asriel’s eyes sometimes these past few ten days since the forgings. That startled expression, hollow empty eyes, completely traumatized.
I know Mira would never kill herself, not with Saya around and Asriel just isn’t normal. If he succumbs then what hope do the rest of us have? The man has always seemed to have great determination for some reason but it comforts me to know that though he may be leagues more powerful than I am. The pain and trauma of the soul cannot easily be shrugged off regardless of power; that in some things we are equals if I’m not better.
But the trauma was worth it as now we all have soul forged weapons, zanpakutōs. Weapons forged by Hito Master Samurai Sword Smith’s and half-vampire half-daemon soul magicians that have hundreds of years of experience at their craft. I sigh looking at the beautiful snowcapped mountain behind us. The wind blows gently and is the loudest sound in these seemingly lonely peaks of the Titan Mountain Range. It’s anything but lonely up here though as the place is teeming with strange insects, high flying birds, reptiles, sure footed hoofed and horned creatures and the preditors that prey on them.
I’m just glad creatures that can harm the soul are rare and mainly found in the Underworld, that place must be a thoroughly miserable place to live though. I’m not sure what I was thinking of negotiating to start a settlement there for my people.
The journey across the mountains isn’t all doom and gloom though. The beautiful peaks are always covered in snow and ice, though it hasn’t once snowed since I’ve been among the Hito people.
The animals are more diverse than I would have expected from a mostly cold, rocky terrain. I’ve even spotted a species of snake I’m told is only found at the peaks. A snake very similar to a cobra but with multiple sets of wings it uses to glide down the mountain, moving through the air like an eel in water.
The running part of our travelling mostly comes when we reach a new mountain and we have to run up and across it to get to the other side. These mountains are so wide that it sometimes takes us days to cross even with a clear goat trail as a path to run or walk on. I was also surprised to learn that vampires can also just as easily prey on animal blood as they do on human blood. It’s apparently only the taste that’s the biggest difference between animal and human blood.
Awakened beasts are apparently just as good as humans and Magical Awakened beasts are even better, so there are degrees to
all these things.
Some blood apparently gives temporary boosts in attributes resulting in it being more sort after than others. Human blood is apparently great for healing injured vampires and enhancing mental acuity. That is unless its blood from an intoxicated human, then the vampire may end up intoxicated themself.
All very fascinating stuff that is a source of entertainment for me on the journey, I have had a taste for learning among the Hito and I want more.
*
“This is Mount Volcanic, and that is the reason these mountains are known as the Titan Mountains,” Yoshihito says pointing at the behemoth of a skeleton moulded into the side of a mountain.
If I wasn’t seeing the thing with my own eyes I definitely wouldn’t believe it. I swallow my saliva and check the horizon to estimate how long before dawn. Travelling with vampires makes a person hyper-aware of such things. Then I find myself trying to as accurately as possible estimate the size of the unbelieveable sight before us by trying tto mentally place myself next to the thing.
“Is that a Titan?” I whisper, not even sure why I’m whispering.
Yoshihito Yoshida grins before disappearing to join his comrades in a cave or where ever they go to hide from the sun. I look to Asriel and he nods slowly moving his hand up and down his soul forged iron staff reflexively.
“Let’s find a dry spot to sit and admire the view from.” He says, already fishing out his sketchbook from a ring of holding he looted from a dead fae. The utility of the things still amazes me.
We set our mats on a relatively dry space, settle in the lotus position and breath, preparing for meditation. I touch all my chakra points with my spirit, lighting them up. Then I close my eyes and do a mind-clearing meditation.
*
The mind is the most active most powerful organ in the body. It works much faster than the body could ever follow and does everything simultaneously. It is never rested as even when we sleep different parts of the mind are active.
Filtering thoughts, cataloguing sensations, managing the subconscious. The power it can wield is astronomical, yet the gods set limits to it. A human being can only use a small amount of brain power at a time. Doing a multitude of tasks and processing information with that small percentage of brain power.
Usually, the little brain power we have access to is spread throughout the mind, doing everything we are aware of and some we aren’t. But when something big happens, like debilitating pain. The focus is narrowed to that pain, limiting thoughts, sight and other processes into processing and dealing with that pain to the neglect of a whole lot of other things resulting in the limited brain power being inefficiently used. Resulting in mistakes, narrow thoughts and distractions.
These are just some of the teachings of Asriel’s Order that he shared with Mira and I during our year travelling together. And I believed him. I believed everything Asriel told me as though it came from Gaia herself in those early days.
Asriel eventually got me to learn critical thinking. But not before I absorbed all he taught as though it were god-speak. I will forever be grateful for how he shaped me and my thought process in those early days. I hadn’t realized how impressionable I was at that point in my life, I guess most people don’t see themselves as easily impressionable or malleable most of the time. But looking back, Asriel could have thoroughly brainwashed me, making me into a discipline for his Order or this other mysterious organization he is recruiting for. I take a deep breath, letting all my worries go.
As busy as the mind is, imagine if you could rest it. Switch it off for a few seconds, longer. Imagine the capabilities of the mythical state known as a rested mind. Something that everyone in the Order apparently strives for but few ever achieve outside the psionic path.
The minds of children are still fresh, rested. Resulting in them being more malleable, learning languages, ideas, concepts much easier than older people, and much faster. Unburdened by fear of the dark or preconceptions about what is possible or what they could become. They are the closest natural things to a rested mind state on Gaia.
Not setting limits for themselves but aiming to soar high, higher than the stars because no one has told them it isn’t possible yet. Forcing their bodies to break their limits because even our bodies have limits set on them. Something adults can only do in extreme conditions if at all. The rested mind state.
This is my favourite meditation path, but it’s very elusive. I breathe in and out slowly. My eyes closed, trying to clear my mind without falling asleep. Then humming a constant monotonous hum in my mind to clear my head of thoughts. Drowning all another sound in my head with the hum, constant, consistent invasive.
It’s only a few minutes before I reach the state of no thoughts. No monologue within my head or random thoughts popping out, no inner voice that never shuts up whenever I try to think about things. This isn’t the state of rest but it is as far as I have been able to come in three years of meditating every day. The state of no thoughts, complete silence, quiet mind. And it’s profound.
Whenever I’m in this state my crown chakra fills to bursting then slowly spills out as though diffusing through the air like pollen from a plant in the wind trying to spread it’s seeds. There is nothing but silence for what feels like minutes but I know is only a few seconds, then minutes which feel like hours of being present without the voice of my mind interferring.
Then my usual rambling mind invades with random thoughts and its all over again.
Chapter 2
Sachihiro
I meditate for almost an hour alternating between the frustratingly elusive rested mind and focusing and maintaining my chakras. The problem with chakra is that it has to be balanced, each chakra point balanced to perfect health individually.
Then the seven chakra points have to be opened so that one flows into the other smoothly. From the root chakra at the base of the spine to the crown chakra at the top of the head and out further, flowing like a twisting river resulting in a physical and emotional harmony that could never be described. Promoting healing, strength, power, love and joy in one’s self.
The next step needs to be stabilizing the chakras so they become true pools within the spiritual body instead of ever changing ever moving currents. Impossible to catch or control as they heal the body. A feat much easier to describe academically than accomplish spiritually or even physically since the healthier your chakra the more it develops physically in the body. Once the chakra is condensed into a pool at each point then and only then can it be consciously tapped into.
And that is the state I am yet to reach in my chakra meditation, condensing it into pools within my spiritual body. It’s like trying to catch the wind or using a new muscle for the first time in my life, it just takes a lot of time and practice. Then I will be able to manifest my chakra into the physical world. A tool with almost endless utility even if it lacks the destructive power of mana in comparison.
Even then though, the spirit body needs a way to interpret the intentions of the physical body which is where learning the chakra release seals comes in. The release seals are a sign language of the god-tongue. The language that drives mad the uninitiated that attempt to learn it, and all who understand it have to break their minds somehow. Those that can speak it know and acknowledged as wizards as they can speak things into existence with the words of power. Even in its diluted forms, forms that found their ways on Gaia every variation of god-speak be it actual words, symbols, sign language or thought is very dangerous without achieving a divided mind first.
*
After meditation, I do my stretches, a mix between stretches Asriel taught and some I learnt at Shimane designed to keep me supple and fit. Challenging both my flexibility, muscle strength and elasticity of my ligaments. These I never do for more than 30 minutes as tight ligaments also have their advantages.
I unwound the satin clothe my beautiful zanpakutō is wrapped in. The sheath is made mostly of iron but I think there is a bit of obsidian in there. It’s c
ompletely black and polished smooth, made mainly of bound and scalable celestial iron resulting in it feeling like a part of my sword, a part of me.
My nodachi’s guard is circular with intricate patterns cut into it, also made from celestial iron. The handle is long at 30cm, giving me more than enough options for gripping for leverage in different situations.
The grip guard being the only thing not made of celestial metal is wrapped tightly in a clothe I’ve never seen before. Comfortable and very decorative, beautiful to look at and dyed in crisscrossing red and black colours. To the Hito people the katana is both a possession prized for it’s beauty symbolizing status and artistry, and for its functionality as an efficient weapon of death. The total length of my nodachi is about 120 to 125cm, longer than some dwarves are tall. Seeming longer in its sheath because my beautiful monster is a duel weapon. Usable both as a blunt weapon when sheathed and a deadly blade when unsheathed.
I practice my stances using my sheathed zanpakutō. Waki-game, the stance of leading with the body, sword held back and point facing back. Weight balance changing from front to back foot depending on a need for attack or defence. Keeping the length of the blade hidden from an opponent, resulting in them not knowing its length or intended position of attack.
Hassō-no-kamae, the tree stance. With the left foot forward and sword held high above the right shoulder. Mainly appropriate for attacking and changing angles quickly to bring the blade close to the body. Perfect for responding in any direction with a bit of footwork and flexible shoulders.
From Hassō I practice jōdan, gedan and Chūdan-no-kamae. Each stance ideal for attacking and defending in different situations. After each stance, I practise the choreographed moves that follow in a sequence. The first four moves of each, cutting down imaginary opponents with my sheathed blade over and over again.
The iron sheath of my blade should make it heavy, as heavy as any pole-arm even with the lightweight nature of Hito swords. But because the sheath itself is a spirit bound item, to me it’s as light as a single-handed war hammer. Which may seem to be too light for a nodachi of this size, but is actually perfect for the style I’m learning to use.