Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The frozen Soul Transformation leader remained perfectly still. It was a terrifying monument to Malos’s absolute authority over the space around him.

The ancient Demon Lord stared at the masked assassin and his black eyes were devoid of their usual cheerful warmth that Li Yu had grown accustomed to. He slowly circled the immobilized killer. He was taking in the dark metal armor, the complete lack of identifying insignia and the density of the man’s foundation.

"Someone this strong coming after a merchant caravan..." Malos murmured. His voice was low and dangerous. "Something is fundamentally off. A Soul Transformation expert does not take action like this unless greatly paid. This was a targeted execution with a heavy price."

He turned to Li Yu, who was currently helping Lana down from her alchemy platform.

"Li Yu, watch my daughter," Malos instructed with his tone brooking no argument. He reached out and grabbed the frozen leader by the throat. "I need to step beyond your shadow for a moment to see clearly. I will return shortly."

With a single, effortless step, Malos and the assassin vanished. They left nothing but the settling dust of the shattered road.

For the next hour, Li Yu and Lana worked in silence. They were helping the surviving guards right the flipped wagons and gather the scattered cargo. The caravan workers moved with a frantic and terrified energy. They continuously were throwing nervous glances at Li Yu. They had just watched a man they assumed was a simple bodyguard casually obliterate a squad of elite killers.

Lana, however, didn't treat him like a monster. She handed him a crate of unbroken medicinal vials. Her amber eyes carried a silent gratitude. Exactly an hour later, the air at the edge of the road rippled and Malos stepped back into the physical realm.

He was entirely alone.

"I attempted to search his soul before the end but it was useless. His mind was bound by intricate, deeply rooted self destruct techniques. The moment I breached his outer defenses, his memories incinerated themselves. They are a highly skilled and specialized group."

Malos turned to his daughter and his expression was serious. "Lana, you must tell me the truth. Do you have any enemies? Have you crossed a rival merchant guild or offended a hightier sect by chance?"

Lana shook her head and her brow furrowed in confusion. "Father, my merchant group is relatively small. We trade in herbs, beast cores and refined pills. We don't deal in forbidden artifacts and we haven't harmed anyone. Even if I had offended a rival guild, no merchant group that I would be rivals with has the wealth or connections to hire a Soul Transformation expert for an assassination. It doesn't make any sense."

Malos looked down at the dark stone road and his mind was racing through the possibilities.

"It wasn't because they knew your lineage," Malos stated firmly. "I made absolutely certain of that when you left home. I destroyed the strings of fate connecting you to my bloodline. Unless you explicitly told them who your father was, the universe itself would not reveal you as my child."

"I haven't told a single soul," Lana replied. "It doesn’t bring any benefits and only danger."

Malos let out a long and slow breath. The cheerful merchant persona was struggling to return. It was weighed down by the stark reality of the threat against his child.

"Perhaps," Malos murmured softly while looking at Lana with a fierce protectiveness. "Perhaps it is truly fate that we ran into each other again. If Li Yu and I had not joined your caravan, that could have been your grave."

He reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. "I will not leave your side, Lana. We will protect you and I will see exactly what is going on here. I will make sure this is taken care of."

“Thank you, father.” Lana said with a smile on her face. She didn’t dislike her dad. She only wanted to make her own way in this world. She regretted not her father how she felt more but perhaps this chance meeting was another chance for her. The fact that he would be protecting her now made her feel good.

With the immediate threat neutralized and the cargo repacked, the caravan resumed its journey. The atmosphere was considerably more tense but the presence of Li Yu and Malos provided an undeniable blanket of security. Everyone had witnessed what they had done even if they didn’t know who they actually were.

Three days later, they arrived at the next major settlement on their route: the city of Ember Fall.

If Cinder Hollow was a town built in the bones of the dead, Ember Fall was a city built on the roaring pulse of the living earth. It was a sprawling and industrial metropolis situated over a massive network of active geothermal vents. The air was thick with the scent of molten metal and the rhythmic. There was the deafening clang of ten thousand hammers, all striking anvils simultaneously. It was the premier forging hub of Ignis’s outer territories.

As soon as the wagons passed through the towering gates of dark ironstone, Lana didn't direct the caravan toward the market squares. She turned to the burly caravan master, Vane.

"Take the crew and secure the warehouse," Lana ordered. "Start the inventory. I have a personal errand to run in the artisan district."

She turned to Li Yu and Malos. "Follow me."

Malos looked confused but entirely willing. He quickly was trailing after his daughter as she navigated the crowded and soot choked streets of Ember Fall. They walked past open air foundries where massive, shirtless demons were pouring liquid metal into glowing molds. The ambient temperature here was staggering.

Eventually, Lana stopped in front of a particularly large and impeccably clean forge. A heavy sign wrought from pure Sun Gold hung above the entrance. The sign read: The Second Strike.

Inside the heat was intense. At the center of the room and standing before a massive anvil, was a broad shouldered young man with a thick, leather apron over his stained tunic. He was wielding a heavy forging hammer and was striking a glowing ingot of metal with a rhythm that was almost musical.

Li Yu’s senses immediately swept over the man. He was at the Soul Formation realm but his aura wasn't violent or aggressive. It was incredibly stable and calm. Something that was quite rare among demons. Their auras were usually more aggressive. He was focused entirely into the pinpoint accuracy of his hammer strikes.

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Malos froze in the doorway. He stared at the broad shouldered blacksmith with his jaw dropping slightly. Li Yu noticed this and was wondering why he stopped but the answer quickly came.

"Tuwark?" Malos whispered.

The young man paused mid swing. He slowly lowered his hammer and turned around. He had striking, familiar black eyes but his face was softer. It possessed an open and warm disposition that stood in stark contrast to the industrial environment of the forge.

Tuwark’s eyes widened. He dropped his heavy hammer and let it clatter loudly against the stone floor.

"Father?" Tuwark gasped. He quickly wiped his soot stained hands on his apron before rushing forward. Malos met him halfway and pulled his son into a fierce embrace. The ancient Demon Lord buried his face in his son’s soot covered shoulder and was completely overwhelmed by the sudden reunion.

"Look at you!" Malos laughed out loud while pulling back to hold his son by the shoulders. He looked Tuwark up and down. His eyes were shining with pride. "A Soul Formation foundation! And a forge of your own in Ember Fall! My boy, you have grown into a mountain!"

Tuwark beamed at his father’s words. His smile was so earnest and bright it seemed to light up the dim forge. "It is good to see you, Father. Truly."

Malos turned around, looking at Lana, who was leaning against the doorframe with a highly satisfied smirk on her face.

"You knew," Malos accused her. Though there wasn't a single ounce of anger in his voice. "You knew exactly where he was."

"I did," Lana admitted freely as she was walking into the forge and offering her brother a warm, familiar hug as well. She looked back at her father. "I knew he came to Ignis’s territory to learn from the best blacksmiths in the realm. He’s currently the number two blacksmith in the entire city. And I needed to know if you were telling the truth."

"The truth about what?" Malos asked.

"About the blind spot you claim to have now." Lana said as she gestured to Li Yu, who was standing quietly near the entrance. "I needed to know if what you said was real. If you still possessed your foresight, you would have known I was leading you right to Tuwark's doorstep. You would have anticipated the reunion. But the look on your face... you genuinely had no idea."

Malos threw his head back and laughed heartily. "A test! You used your own brother as bait to test the limits of my power! You are entirely your mother’s daughter, Lana."

Tuwark looked at Li Yu as he was wiping his hands on his apron again before offering a respectful bow. "Any friend of my father is also a welcome guest in my forge. I am Tuwark."

"Li Yu," Li Yu replied back at him. He moved quickly to shake the man's hand. Tuwark’s grip was incredibly strong, yet exceptionally gentle.

"Come," Tuwark insisted. He quickly untied his heavy leather apron and tossed it onto a nearby workbench. "The forge can wait. We are having a family dinner. There is a pavilion down the street that serves the best roasted magma boar in the city."

Thirty minutes later, the four of them were seated in a private and deeply cushioned room on the second floor of a high end restaurant. The table was laden with steaming dishes, rich broths and platters of perfectly seasoned meats.

As soon as the food was served, Li Yu stood up and offered a polite bow to the family.

"I should step out," Li Yu said respectfully. "This is a reunion for your family. You have years to catch up on and I do not want to intrude on your privacy."

Tuwark immediately stood up and reached across the table to grab Li Yu’s arm. His grip was entirely lacking in aggression but firm with hospitality.

"Nonsense," Tuwark insisted with a friendly face. "My sister told me what happened on the road. You stood between her and death. Anyone who protects my family is family at this table. Please, Li Yu. Sit with us."

"He's right," Lana agreed as she was taking a sip of her wine. "Besides, if you leave, Father’s foresight might return and he won’t be able to help himself. It would be bad for all of us."

Malos chuckled and patted the empty cushion beside him. "Sit, my friend. You are the catalyst for this joy. You must share in it. We’ve grown to know each other quite well by now."

Li Yu couldn't argue with that level of earnest insistence. He sat back down and picked up his chopsticks as the conversation began to flow naturally around him. It quickly became apparent to Li Yu that Tuwark was, for lack of a better term, entirely too nice for the chaotic realms. While Lana was a shrewd, sharp minded merchant who calculated risks and profit margins, Tuwark was a man of boundless generosity.

During the meal, a nervous young server accidentally spilled a bowl of hot broth onto the table near Tuwark's arm. Before the server could even begin to panic and apologize, Tuwark was already apologizing to him. He claimed his elbow had been in the way. He even slipped the server a few extra spirit stones to ensure the establishment wouldn't dock the young man's pay.

He was incredibly determined and headstrong regarding his craft though. He spoke passionately about his goal to become the number one blacksmith in Ember Fall through honest, grueling labor. However, his heart was remarkably soft.

"You both left," Li Yu noted quietly as he was pouring himself a cup of tea as the dinner progressed. "You walked away from a palace to run a caravan and swing a hammer."

Tuwark set his cup down. He shared a knowing and slightly melancholic look with his sister.

"We did," Tuwark nodded. He looked at his father with a deep affection that was nevertheless tinged with old frustrations. "Father gave us everything. We never wanted for resources or safety or love. But growing up... it felt like living inside a flawlessly written book."

"It was suffocating," Lana added softly as she traced the rim of her cup. "If I wanted to learn a new martial art, Father already knew if I would master it or fail. If Tuwark wanted to forge a new alloy, Father knew if the blade would shatter before the metal even touched the anvil."

Tuwark looked at Malos with his broad shoulders shrugging helplessly. "You robbed us of the joy of creation, Father. And more importantly, you robbed us of the right to fail. How can a man forge a strong foundation if he is never allowed to burn his own hands in the fire?"

Malos sat quietly and his dark eyes were reflecting the flickering light of the table lanterns. He didn't defend himself. He didn't offer excuses. He simply listened to his children speak the truths he had known for decades. The simple fact was that he couldn’t help himself. Once he knew, he did whatever he could that was best for them. Well, what he thought was best for them at least.

"You are entirely right," Malos said finally. His voice was thick with a heavy sorrow. He looked between his son and his daughter. "I saw every cut, every burn and every heartbreak you would endure in the near future. As a father, my instinct was to snatch the hammer away before it struck your thumb. My instinct was to steer you away from the treacherous roads before the wheel broke."

Malos placed his hands flat on the table and was offering them a raw and incredibly vulnerable smile.

"I couldn't help but see your fates," Malos confessed quietly. "It was a curse I could not turn off. And I watched my love for you slowly turn into your prison. That is why, when you both asked to leave, I didn't stop you. I knew it was the only way you could truly live your own lives. The hardest thing I have ever done was letting you walk out of my doors to face a world I could no longer protect you from."

Lana reached across the table and placed her hand gently over her father's. Tuwark did the same on the other side.

"We know, Father," Lana whispered as her amber eyes softened completely. "And we love you for letting us go. To let us write our own fates and stories upon this world."

Li Yu sat quietly in his corner of the table and was taking a slow sip of his tea. Thoughts wander to his own family. Of his mother and father that passed away. If they were still alive would they be worrying about him like this as well? Most likely, yes. What parent wouldn’t?

He watched the three of them, a family fractured by the terrifying weight of supreme power. They were finally finding common ground in the simple act of sharing a meal. Time had allowed all three of them to grow and only now were they ready to accept one another back. They never hated or disliked one another. They each just needed their own time and experiences.

‘Fate truly does work in mysterious ways…’ Li Yu couldn’t help but think to himself.

It was a beautiful moment in a world dominated by gods and monsters. Li Yu was perfectly content to remain in the background. He was glad that his presence had given an old father the chance to finally be surprised by his children again. And for his children to surprise him back.