Talos and Cyrus

Chapter 14 - The Shan Ren

Dancing candle light. Cyrus found himself staring at a distant candle flame, seemingly floating in the air. He touched Talos on the shoulder but only briefly, for the dragon was already lumbering forward, staring at his feet.

"Follow me," his companion almost ordered, looking back to Cyrus quickly. "It would be unfortunate if you stepped out of place."

Cyrus quickly went after him, taking care to nearly cling to the dragon's side. Too many questions were racing around his mind, almost battling each other to see which would escape past his lips first.

"How long was I in that bed?" he whispered. It seemed like the appropriate tone to take in such a silent place. Talos hummed softly.

"Two days, I feared you would be longer."

Cyrus let out a small sigh. Only two days, it wasn't long but simultaneously felt too long. He should have woken up sooner. Two days wasted; Minos could be forming up his army as they spoke.

More candle light danced in the darkness and as Cyrus squinted his eyes, he could see the slight shimmer of rippling water in the distance. Where was he?

"Talos," he started. "What-"

"We must be silent. Wu does not tolerate disrespect." Talos cut him off with a harsh whisper, staring straight ahead.

Cyrus wanted to bite back with a retort but he held his tongue; it did not seem as if now was the time to start an argument with the dragon.

He followed Talos towards the rippling water and in the faint light, a wooden bridge appeared. It was wide enough for the two of them to walk across together but Cyrus feared it wouldn't bear Talos' weight. Miraculously, it hardly creaked beneath the dragon's bulk. The bridge was small, carrying them over the water and onto dry ground, a cold marble floor. A flicker of light caught Cyrus' eye and he snapped his head around.

It was a fish glowing in the water behind him, swimming about in majestic somersaults. Glowing. Cyrus furrowed his brow. The fish glowed like a tiny star, and as he watched, more joined it, each omitting their own soft light. They swam about in the dark water, looping and swirling around each other.

It wasn't candlelight Cyrus had been seeing, it was the fish. The glowing fish.

"What?" Cyrus breathed to himself. How is this possible?

He couldn't hear Talos's footfalls anymore. Cyrus quickly turned to see the dragon standing before a throne that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. It was golden, just like the palace they stood in now, as if it were made from the golden walls of the building itself. It seemed to glow like the fish in the black water, a soft, peculiar orange light. It was a priceless piece of art, Cyrus almost felt unworthy of staring at it. There was a stir in the air and he blinked. Suddenly, as if he had been on that throne the entire time, there sat a man who seemed to be older than time itself.

Cyrus slowly stepped toward the golden chair and stopped beside Talos, his brown eyes wide. The man had the same slanted eyes and olive skin as Ju-Long, but where his hair should have been black, it was instead pure silver. An impossibly long beard fell from under his nose and his chin, matching the shade of the thin hair residing on his head. His eyes were pale and colorless, betraying no emotion but yet, in turn, allowing one to sense his immense wisdom. The ancient man wore a robe of black and gold with tiny illustrations of flowers embedded in the tightly knit fabric. He stared at Cyrus with a keen interest, a wrinkled hand propped beneath his chin to support the weight of his head. His eyes twinkled.

"Greetings, Cyrus." he said, his voice withered and raspy. "I am Emperor Wu of the Shan Ren , The Lost Race."

Cyrus blinked rapidly and looked to Talos, but the dragon didn't seem the least bit alarmed. His companion gave him a reassuring glance. Cyrus cleared his throat.