Chapter 39. A single dangerous idea
AT THE SAME TIME
MEI SHEN’S POINT OF VIEW:
The village elder’s voice cracked as he pleaded again for help. His hands trembled as he showed me the brittle stalks of what used to be their wheat, a harvest lost to the relentless drought.
"We don’t know how much longer we can hold on." He said, eyes wet with despair. "The children... they grow weaker by the day."
I swallowed hard, feeling my chest tighten, the weight of their suffering crushing me like a stone. I wanted to promise miracles, to summon rain with words, but all I could offer was a solemn nod. That night, the sky finally broke. Thunder rolled in like a battle cry, fierce and wild, shaking the earth beneath us. Sheets of rain poured down, washing over the parched land, drumming against rooftops and filling the dusty riverbeds.
Relief flooded through the village, smiles, laughter, tears. The farmers danced in the mud, lifting their faces to the storm as if it were a blessing from the heavens. But as I stood there, rain soaking through my clothes, my heart raced with something else, a sudden, sharp clarity. Memories I had buried deep clawed their way back to the surface. A voice clear and resonant, like the echo of thunder itself spoke in my mind.
"You must not forget. You cannot run from what has come before."A voice said in my head.
The god’s presence wrapped around me, fierce and insistent. I stumbled back, breath catching.
Flashbacks flickered, the faces of those I lost, promises I made in a world far away, dangers lurking still, waiting for the moment to rise again. Without thinking, I turned on my heel and ran. My sudden flight shocked everyone around me. Lianwei’s voice called after me, sharp with worry.
"Mei Shen! Where are you going?"Lianwei asked.
But I didn’t stop. The rain blurred my vision, tears mixing with the drops as I ran toward the shadows of my past, driven by a fear and hope I couldn’t yet name. My feet pounded against the soaked earth, slipping on the muddy ground as rain drenched me, cold and heavy like the weight of the sky itself pressing down. Villagers called after me. Lianwei’s voice rose behind them, deep and commanding, but all of it blurred beneath the thundering beat of my heart and the echo of that voice in my skull.
"You must remember. You must see what’s coming."A voice said.