Chapter 98 - Ninety Seven - Protecting the man you love

The hot sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky, pouring its heat upon the world below.  It was oppressive and intimidating, but pure of vital energy.  Those that had the ability risked their fragile skin to absorb the energy into their bodies and circulate it about their meridians.  Those who did not took to hiding in rooms and beneath the shade of trees, savouring what little breeze brushed past their sweaty bodies.

As two who no longer needed to rely on this thick yang energy to balance the yin within their bodies, Ren Zexian and Chang Min took to the walls to keep watch.  The walls encompassing the three properties did not form a square and were thick enough for one person to walk along in some places, two in areas that Chang Min had thickened in his spare time.  A stroll around the high pathway would take a man just over an hour, more if their vigilance was high and their pace guarded.  For the two Cultivators, speeding around the winding length even giving attention to specific details  was a ten minute sprint, if that.

During this time of day, in these temperatures, not even a zombie mouse could be seen rustling in the patches of long, dry grasses lining the fallow fields outside the wall.  Humanoid zombies no longer lurched passed in the night; no one had witnessed one in almost a week.  Animal zombies still attempted to breech the walls during the cooler hours between sun set and sunrise before scurrying or rushing away to find shelter from the oppressive day, leaving this time for ordinary and mutant beasts to traverse the land and sky.

And at a few random times, packs or flocks of the mutant beasts would attack the walls or fly over them directly seeking the men and women within.  If all were skinny, with bones obvious beneath fur or feathers, it could be said that these beasts were just desperate for food, but such was not always the case.  For the pack of dogs, with both ordinary and mutated animals in their midst, hunger was the driving force, their desperation having brought them to this point; most of these dogs had once been domesticated and had only so much hunting instinct left.  Plus, the prey were not always as defenceless as they once were.  One had to be heartless (or from a much crueller realm) to not feel ill at ease when they fought against the hungry canines, feeling every pained yelp as if it were stabbing them in the gut.  Fortunately, the Alpha of this pack was intelligent enough to understand that they could not grasp food here, only death and they fled in the end.

The flock of ravens that flew easily over the walls were an entirely different case.  Beaks sharpened, clawed toes like miniature knives, if not for the quick responses of several, they would likely have had lost chunks of living flesh to these vicious mutants.  They were not any larger than they'd been prior to the End, but now resembled much more the ominous omens created in historic man's imaginations and were definitely a cause of fear.  They also were less easily subdued than the hungry dog pack; diving down relentlessly despite the sharp, flaming winds stirred by one man, which a few failed to agilely avoid, learning to keep a distance from the vines or cut them with their claws before they could be entangled.  One managed to clench the seemingly plush flesh of one prey's arm, only for its claws to shatter in the next second.  Despite the bird's improved intelligence, it was unable to figure out what had occurred before its neck was snapped by a hound that burst through a sudden fog.

Once the last raven flew away, they left a few injuries, but none too serious, but...

"Why did he feel the need to throw himself before me as a shield?" Chang Min ranted as he vented his energies while circling the wall with his Master.  Ren Zexian shrugged.  If it had been the ancient man's distant path, such sacrifices would not be too uncommon, but as they breeched the final era when their realm was upon its final breaths, such instances were too far and few between. From Chang Min's description of his parents, they were two such folk with self-less hearts, but if other village folk were in their shoes, it would not be so unlikely to find that the children were sold or simply given up in order that there be less mouths to feed. Ren Zexian was not so unkind to shatter his apprentice's last impression of his parents with his own cynical views, though or even the impression he suspected the younger man had of himself. Ren Zexian had not shielded or protected the youth who had wanted to follow him, just given him the tools to become stronger and able to rely on himself. Chang Min had always considered this matter more generously and saw the other as his saviour as well as his master.

However, in this realm, upon meeting the one who he couldn't help but wish to protect and shield, perhaps an inkling of understanding had taken root and Ren Zexian actually was able to see what his apprentice could not. Cole's intent towards Chang Min was not so much self-sacrificing as the need to protect his heart.

"Chang Min," Ren Zexian injected into the other's continued rant, "Cole's wounds were deep, but no vital vein nor meridian was severed. He will heal in time." And likely wear the scars as a badge of honour for they represented something deep to him.

"But he was so foolish trying to hide it," Chang Min complained. They'd naturally seen the blood upon Cole's back, but he had claimed it was 'just a scratch' and that what they had seen upon his shirt was much worse than it truly was. His attempt to reassure others, or more likely, Chang Min, had backfired as everyone actually caught by the claws of those ravens suffered from mild fevers... except him who burned for two entire days and nights. Chang Min had not left his side the entire time, cooling his body with Tyler's icy water and begging Ren Zexian for one of the pills still in his possession from the old realm.

Ren Zexian had felt helpless to refuse this apprentice of his, but the hard ice pills in his possession were for unnatural fevers of blisteringly high temperatures and could cause frost damage to a man's internal organs.  They were only meant as a last resort, so Ren Zexian promised that if Cole's fever did not abate but increase in temperature, he would provide one of the precious pills.  Fortunately, it broke after a few long hours, becoming milder over the course of the following day and Cole woke from the feverish coma.  Chang Min had taken to the walls while the man rested in order to shake off the restless tension still coursing through his veins.

They paused at the gate, noticing that approaching down the road was the distant rumbling of vehicles.  Sure enough, a convoy was heading in their direction. 

Rhodes squad was on another gathering mission.  He was stopping by to see if their small base wanted to join them.  Ren Zexian explained about the attack they suffered from the mutant birds and the subsequent fevers endured by those scratched by the creatures' talons.  Patrick was well enough, but decided to forgo this mission; it was far to hot to leave the shady shelter of mansion, come again next time.

Bemused, Rhodes left with his men, but not before Ren Zexian checked upon his two students amongst them.  Both were doing reasonably well with their cultivation, the man was pleased with their progress.  It estimated that they would likely reach Secondary Stage either in the Winter or early next spring.  "See if your people can be left here for those months," Ren Zexian suggested.  "It is better to advance in a space which is sheltered and without much disturbance, less deviation occur and the body become irreparably damaged."

As the heat of the day eased, others came to take a shift guarding the walls allowing the two Cultivators to seek sustenance.  Chang Min left the kitchen with two bowls of mushroom soup and headed up the stairs to the room he shared with Cole.  The other man was lying upon his stomach upon one of the two single beds, reading a book to pass the time, his back wrapped in clean bandages.  Chang Min's attention was caught by the broadness of the man's shoulders and the ripple of muscles relaxing beneath the sun blessed skin before his eyes became pained as they considered what was hidden beneath the bandages. 

Cole had told him that it had not been his fault, that he had moved automatically when the raven had dived towards the other's blindside while he (Chang Min) had been dealing with the birds defending against his blade with their beaks.  But Chang Min felt he was to blame, that as Cole's Master and superior in cultivation, he should have been able to prevent Cole from this foolish attempt to use his flesh and body as a shield.  He could have pushed Cole aside, could have dealt with the diving bird with other means.  As it was he'd used his sword to bring down the raven's biting it to the earth so that the spikes he then released at his feet pierced their bodies at the same moment he'd noticed Cole's silhouette.  He'd turned to give the other a smile, perhaps he actually wanted to see the appreciation in his apprentice's eyes in regards to his abilities, but all he'd seen was the other flinch and grit his teeth.  Sweat began to bead upon Cole's forehead just as he felt his own blood begin to freeze.

The image superimposed over the smiling one provided him by Cole now.  The latter's expression fell as he caught the glassiness and haunted black eyes staring through him.  "Hey," he called out to Chang Min, who just blinked still caught beneath his own illusions.  So despite the uncomfortable stretch of his wounds, he dragged himself out of bed to reach for the other, automatically wrapping his thick arms about the man and pulling him close.  Cole's beating heart within his warm chest was enough to drag Chang Min from the nightmare.  He suddenly slapped that same, hard chest.

"Don't you ever do something so stupid again!" He commanded once more.  This would have been the third time these words passed his lips. 

The last two times, Cole had reassured him that he wouldn't but it seemed that Chang Min didn't believe him.  He had every right not to.  Cole had been lying after all.  His eyes curved as they witnessed the black flames stirring in the other's eyes and sighed.  "I can't say that I won't do it in the future, sorry."

"Why?"

"Isn't it instinct to want to protect the ones... the man you love?"

Cole watched as Chang Min's eyes widened then the body that had always seemed so strong suddenly softened in his embrace and he felt two arms reach cautiously about his waist.  "That's why you really can't do it again," Chang Min muttered into his chest.  Even with the open windows bringing in a refreshing breeze, the temperature of the room was still really warm.