Ling Qi remembered the nightmare of being one of the swarm, primal and pitiless, her teeth finding human throats. They chittered out in the dark, her kith and kin, fellow scavengers and vermin. Fir...
2022-09-22 23:16:19 +0000 UTC View Post“It spiraled up from unfathomable deeps, up and up, a great vortex without bottom or top, all the dreams of Xiangmen caught in the currents of its wind,” Ling Qi orated. Her words echoed in the...
2022-09-20 00:09:14 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi looked up and up to the source of the new voice. Sixiang’s grandmother, the avatar of the Dreaming Moon, simultaneously towered high above and danced innocuously through the crowd in a wa...
2022-09-15 17:58:49 +0000 UTC View PostAN: Meant to post this yesterday but here you are, a little interlude to mark the transition point in the sidestory.
At the top of the tallest tower in Phoenix Hom...
2022-09-15 17:47:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe revel was noisy and chaotic, but it seemed so different from the clouded gossamer memories of before. There was little elegance here. Even those who bore inhuman frames were somehow both more a...
2022-09-12 21:44:26 +0000 UTC View PostUnlike when Ling Qi went out on her own, they did have to make a brief stop to get Xia Lin changed into something less ostentatious since her clothes were not self-adjusting, but thankfully, the ot...
2022-09-09 00:01:29 +0000 UTC View Post“Our Doom?” Gu Xiulan asked. She tried not to let her voice quaver as she wiped at her eyes. “Now you’re being dramatic Father.”
“I am, is that not our way?” he said, briefly cr...
2022-09-07 21:27:10 +0000 UTC View PostHer target spoke first as they approached. “Oh, Lady Ling! I wondered if I would encounter you here."
Mei Lanfen was an old woman with a kindly appearance. Her steel gray hair was drawn bac...
2022-09-06 00:37:17 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi sucked in a breath. “It’s a wonder that it's still here.”
“The ones who ascend can’t disappear so quickly, especially not right where they ascended.” Sixiang circled her l...
2022-09-02 00:37:12 +0000 UTC View Post<Ah, you’re too hard on yourself,> chided Sixiang.
Maybe, thought Ling Qi, leaving the misty grounds behind. She rejoined the main street that wound along the immense branch of Xiangm...
2022-08-29 23:22:51 +0000 UTC View Post"A statement has been prepared." Yinhui slid a folded sheet of paper to her from across the table.
Ling Qi picked it up gingerly, unfolding it, and felt her eyebrows rise at the number of spi...
2022-08-25 18:49:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe approach to Xiangmen was strange and wondrous. For Ling Qi’s entire life, both on the streets of Tonghou and in the Sect, the dark vertical line on the northern horizon was as much a fact of ...
2022-08-22 22:42:37 +0000 UTC View PostThen, very slowly, the woman cracked a smile. “I see. That is generous.”
“It is my hope that our relations can be friendly in the future, and if I may do an ally a favor while forestall...
2022-08-18 21:07:21 +0000 UTC View PostWhat it says on the tin, sorry everyone! No excuses from me, I just got super caught up in other work and I forgot to make my posts. Won't happen again!
2022-08-16 05:51:01 +0000 UTC View Post“It is my honor to receive such a polite guest,” the older woman said, her own bow less deep and ostentatious. Her gown was much more staid and businesslike than what she had worn at the tourna...
2022-08-16 05:46:16 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a long beat of silence in the carriage, oppressive and cloying.
“Your mother never does assign easy tasks,” Gan Guangli said, breaking it. His smile seemed dimmer, but it was fi...
2022-08-11 19:44:03 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi frowned at the little golden statue hovering over the labyrinth gate of her hub in the dream. It bothered her. Despite the fact that it was something the old Weilu had followed, that the Hu...
2022-08-08 20:22:20 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi did not feel her best when next she stepped through the veil of dream. Her chest still ached with healing bone, and her arm was still restrained under heavy plaster and held tight to her ch...
2022-08-05 02:03:40 +0000 UTC View Post“You cannot waste my time here,” her father said, his even voice rising over the creak of opening doors. The entrance to the spires training hall. Father’s training hall, were forged of the d...
2022-08-03 18:30:41 +0000 UTC View PostShe didn’t feel so lucky though, sitting her friend up against the side of the cave.
Su Ling hacked up another mass of bloody water, and her eyes fluttered open. She mumbled, “Pretty sure...
2022-08-02 00:05:49 +0000 UTC View Post“Deny as you want, but tell me, what were you gonna do with these scraps?” asked the fox.
Xisheng cowered behind Su Ling’s legs, their eyes shut. Their form was still in flux, features ...
2022-07-28 22:10:16 +0000 UTC View PostSu Ling’s eyes flew open, and her ears and tail were standing on end. “We need to go.” The only hesitation was a faint grimace as she glanced toward the beatifically smiling child.
Ling...
2022-07-25 23:23:56 +0000 UTC View PostBeyond was the shrine center, filled with the fallen icons of little gods. Peeling paint that should have been too faded for detail nonetheless spoke the old tales of creation and the coming of Tsu...
2022-07-21 17:45:40 +0000 UTC View PostColors, shapes, lights, and sounds rushed by. Ling QI held tight to her friend's hand against the ethereal wind which pushed back, rejecting the other girl’s stolid, firmly material qi. Ling Qi g...
2022-07-11 21:02:45 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi reached up and flicked the cat-xiang’s nose, making them recoil. “I’ve just been thinking about what family really means. Everyone treats the connection as important. Even our doubter...
2022-07-07 23:33:51 +0000 UTC View PostJust announcing in advance, the current section of the Quest is finishing and I will be taking my customary one week break from all posting. Will look forward to resuming with you all after the bre...
2022-07-04 21:32:47 +0000 UTC View Post“Snow Blossom, huh?” Sixiang peered over Ling Qi’s head. Their weightless image appeared to lean on her back, trailing off into nothingness below the shoulders. “That’s kind of fanciful f...
2022-07-04 21:29:34 +0000 UTC View PostWind kicked up as Ling Qi lifted into the air, the hems of her dress fluttering and snapping in the conjured breeze.
Gan Guangli reacted immediately and without a word, stepping in front of h...
2022-06-30 23:21:48 +0000 UTC View Post“It is not the commotion which troubles me, this is a training hall,” her father said mildly.
Gu Xiulan remained as she was, head bowed, hands clasped. She could tell he was not done. Zhe...
2022-06-29 21:31:57 +0000 UTC View Post“Your thoughts, Ling Qi?” Cai Renxiang asked. She stood beside an ornate table set in the middle of the snowy field. A map of high quality lay weighted upon it, and fresh ink was drying in the ...
2022-06-27 22:04:59 +0000 UTC View Post