Immortal Connections - Chapter 51 preview

Chapter 51 - Tou He

Sizzling arrows struck the impromptu earthen wall, floating metal shields moving to stymy other attacks that were more powerful. All around them, the very air sparked and burnt, ash and smoke rising in the air as darkened footprints followed Tou He as he walked down the hilltop.

Perhaps he was the most effective diplomat to the demons considering the nature of his aura and his domain, the purifying flames of heaven mixed with his own nature. Yet, none of the others were willing to do this, even if they had sent soldiers to help guard him. They were the source of the shields and earthen walls, even as he called out to the demons.

“Will you come out and treat with us? We mean you no harm.” Tou He watched as another brace of arrows lifted out of the village before he resumed, switching language again. He had gone through everything that he knew – including the few words of a smattering of other demonic and local dialects and languages – in an attempt to elicit a conversation.

“We mean you no harm, but we need to talk.”

Arrow.

“Please!”

Javelin. Well thrown too, it had been aimed right at him.

“I will have to act if you don’t stop!” 

More arrows.

Tired of this, knowing that they might refuse to speak without further provocation, he let his aura rampage, sweeping it all through the village. Every bowstring he found, he burnt, letting the purifying fire take it. Fletching on arrows caught fire, shafts of spears and javelins warmed and guards on swords started to smoke, causing cries of pain and confusion to ring out from the village.

Funny, how certain words, certain noises sounded all the same – whether it was demon or human. The wailing of a child, the scream of pain, the shout of surprise. You needed no knowledge to understand the intent.

“Will you speak now?”

Instead, the demons acted with intent now. Two archers restrung their bows with swift alactrity, their own auras spilling outwards to block his flames. Conjured arrows of light and miasma appeared on the strings, the attacks flying through the air even as spears were snatched from the ground and demonic blade strikes of cackling lightning shot outwards.

The soldiers who had done so well till now were no match for the sudden attack, their conjured shields of metal and earth shattered by the attacks. Tou He had sensed the change in intent and power levels, solidifying their defense behind the soldiers with his own aura and chi such that when the attacks struck, they bounced off or shattered against the impervious redoubt of his will.

“Enough!” He snapped, striding forwards and ignoring the groaning soldiers that had surrounded him. He knew they would survive, but more importantly, he had to put an end to this. The demons before him, these tuft eared, single nostril, green skinned, horned creatures were too thin, too emaciated and weak to display such power and not succumb to their very environment. “Do you not understand I’m trying to save you?”

No answer, just more attacks. He let them bounce off his own aura, impervious to the attacks they sought to throw at him. This group was even more pitiful than the previous ones, speaking to even greater and desperate need. He just wished they would talk to him.

A half dozen more steps, one more wave of attacks and he chose to make his point with a demonstration. He solidified his chi, sending a wave of energy outwards that caught the various demons by the body. It lifted them off the ground, threw them backwards. He pushed it sideways and around, sending bodies tumbling towards the portal that hung at their backs, figures caught in tent poles, other figures and the occasional weapon.

“You have to leave. Now. Back to your world.” Tou He pushed, watching as demon after demon stumbled around. However, not all of them were caught out, the leader and a few others resisting the command and the aura push.

Muttered words in a language he did not understand washed over Tou He. The demons rushed towards the leader, laying hands on his shoulder or the shoulder of those next to him. The monk felt the surge of energy coursing through them, focusing upon the leader moments before they pointed a hand.

A beam of solidified chi struck at him, to be batted aside by one hand. He grunted, feeling the attack shred his aura, burrowing through the first layers of the folded protection that his earth-imbued aura before he had deflected the attack.

Again, he felt from behind, the presence of others. He whispered, once more, ‘No.” and focused on the attackers who had regrouped, further energy pouring into their leader. It was not enough – how could it be – to harm him, but surely it would kill the chieftain and those gifting him the energy.

Best to end it.

A stomp of his foot and he sent a thread of energy into the earth, letting it launch upwards moments later. Though earth was not his domain directly, he had experience utilizing it. The spike of earth that threw the chieftain off his feet into the air towards the portal also broke the containment and flow of energy, sufficiently so that it left the group of donators groaning on the ground from the sudden backlash.

Another push of his aura had bodies of the injured and tired rolling over and over, forced back towards the gate. He held off on sending it too far though, for many of the demons, caught between the existential threat of what came before and his own presence in the present ran for the future threat. Many carried what little belongings they had, the makeshift tents and pots left behind as they fled the threat now.

A part of him ached at the destruction, at the loss that he was causing. These people had so little, and here he was, depriving them of that too. While Buddha and his former order might deplore material objects, there was a level of basic necessity and requirements that were required for existence. Now, he was depriving these demons of that.

Triggered by that thought, he began utilizing his aura and chi, picking up tents that he noticed were empty and ignoring those that still had hastily packing demons, floating the tents over to the crowd. That caused further cries of exclamation, more pushing – though, surprisingly, gently – and a readying for an attack.

Only when none was forthcoming did the group calm a little, though the tension increased significantly as the chieftain, hobbling over and obviously in pain, returned. He linked together once more with even more of the adults and a few budding teenagers, though this time, the energy was held in abeyance. Ready, and waiting to be transferred, like a dam awaiting a strike; but contained.

In this way, Tou He waited; a single cultivator watching the demons before him. Uncaring about the growing impatience behind and the danger before him, as demons returned to their realms. It was only when the ground was clear, bereft of everything but the still burning fire pits, the discarded remnants of broken makeshift tents and refuse piles, did he act.

Strolling forward, arms behind his back, all the way to the blinking gate. He reined in his aura, contained it, refused to let the flames jump and spark; to burn away the contaminants and the demonic presence. That could be left to the army behind him.

He had other uses for his flame, for the energy he contained.

After all, there was an army out there that needed to be dealt with and a reason for the portal to their realm. Both issues would have to be resolved – one for the sake of his conscience, the other, for the sake of the realm.

Neither more important the next, as one soul could never be weighed greater than another.

Naught but for their actions, which might condemn one to the cycle or to ascendance alike.