Rivers of Fate

Riding the Wind

The scent of rain was thick in the air.

But the scent of fox blood was thicker.

A brisk, sharp wind blew from the edges of this night. Vastly different from the rain swept gusts of another, one in which a lost and exhausted Crown Prince trudged behind a small feline guide, leading him on a hunt for the unknown woman he sought.

But he knew her now. His soul had known all along.

The winding paths and endless trodden footfalls of that seemingly long ago night were now a straight and narrow corridor of stone, glass, and metal whereupon he hunted alone.

Unable to soar, the dragon ran. The scent of Xia's fox blood triggering Wanfeng's every primal instinct. Alert to every detail of his surroundings rushing past, he didn't miss the cluster of metal bins fallen to the ground, the sight of which did not upset him as much as the smear of blood along the side of one.

The night air was chilled but nary a puff of breath escaped him. The thundering of his chest matching that from the sky. And what omen of fate should he read from the fact the clothing he'd found he had the magic to summon upon his body turned out to be his dress armour? As it began so shall it end.

Boots pounded the sidewalk as the warrior's hair streamed black as the night behind him and he continued his charge.

The road ended at a wood. Or was it an immense garden given the lights scattered within it. The blood trail led straight to an empty bench on the edge of a clearing. "Xia?! XIA!" There was no sign of her. Circling where he stood, a frantic Wanfeng could not sense her presence, fox or otherwise. The scent of her blood lingered, however. The scent of something else too. Wanfeng recognized the odour that clung to the interior of a Kor Vet.

"NOOO!" His fists slammed on the bench. The iron top bar bent, cracking apart the wood slats beneath.

"Mrrt?"

Wanfeng spun around.

Like a pair of eclipses, thin gleaming irises yellow as the sun fixed him with an inscrutable regard. Maurice was sitting on the curb, tail flicking from side to side. But it was not the sight of the Elder's cat that riveted Wanfeng's attention. Rather, it was the jet black motorcycle beside him that hadn't been there a moment before.

The cat rose on its hind legs to stretch a front paw to the bike. The motorcycle rumbled to life.

How...?

Wanfeng rushed to the curb. "Chen Kai has Xia! The blood trail is gone!" Face stricken, he stared at the motorcycle in dismay. Even if he knew how to ride it, he no longer had a means to track Xia's whereabouts.

He gave a jolt when he touched a handlebar. For suddenly, unbidden, the knowledge of how to ride the motorcycle was clear in his mind. An insistent meow wasn't needed twice for Wanfeng to swing a leg high and straddle the seat of the magnificent steel horse. "Will you be my guide once again?" Maurice sprang back, shaking his head no. With an agitated hiss, the cat turned tail and vanished into the night in the direction of the townhouse... just as a series of shrill cheeps and the mad beating of wings made Wanfeng look up.

A small bird fluttered in the lamplight above his head. It darted forward a short distance back along the road only to flutter over to Wanfeng again. The message was clear. Kicking up the stand while pulling the throttle with a downward twist of his right hand, Wanfeng released the clutch to spin the bike around. The bird cast a faint green glow which Wanfeng could easily see. It swooped higher, flying fast into the night. Both dragon and bike roared as Wanfeng took off after it.