Tides of Empire Read online

  Tides of Empire

  An Eden Factions Novella

  C. S. Harte

  Star Publishing

  Copyright © 2018 by C. S. Harte

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Version 1.0.0 (1/12/18)

  For my Maria. Everything I do, I do for you.

  Contents

  Also by C. S. Harte

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Eden Wakes - Eden Factions Book One

  Eden Villains - Eden Factions Book Two

  Reader Circle

  Also by C. S. Harte

  Eden Wakes - Book One of the Eden Faction Series

  Tides of Empire - Novella 1.5 of the Eden Faction Series

  Eden Villains - Book Two of the Eden Faction Series

  If you like Tides of Empire, please consider writing a short review. It would make a world of difference to me.

  Tides of Empire - Goodreads

  1

  Age Seven

  Ren Yi held out his hand away from his chest and watched the raindrops splashing onto his pale, white palm. The soft crying and quiet murmurs of family, friends, and Jin-song Warriors surrounded him. They were clustered together in the private burial grounds of Kunlun, the hidden mountain city of the Jin-song.

  Cheng, Ren’s brother, was recently killed during a mission against the White Lotus Faction's genetically superior gifteds in Hong Kong. The two sides fought to a bitter stalemate over the control of Southeast Asia ever since the White Lotus rose to power in the fourteenth century.

  A progression of people started to form in front of Cheng’s coffin with their hands folded across their hips and their heads tilted down. Each mourner glanced at Ren as they walked past, ready to pay tribute to their fallen brother.

  Ren kept his eyes on his brother’s casket, unable to meet the heavy stares of the sorrowful parade. Each pair of eyes felt like a new burden against his small frame. He hid behind his mother, Quan Yi, when the weight became unbearable and waited for the last of the grievers to pass.

  The raindrops began to gather in speed and size.

  Quan shifted her umbrella, ensuring Ren was underneath.

  Ren tugged at his mother’s hand and asked, “When is Cheng going to wake up?”

  She placed her palm on his head and wiped off the excess rain from his slick black hair in response to his question.

  It was only a few days ago when Cheng helped Ren with his alchemy homework. Ren loved alchemy, often going to sleep reading passages from the 88-volume Jin-song Analects. He had a reputation around Kunlun as a once-in-a-generation savant with a skill for memorizing long lists of ingredients and accurately predicting the interactions between inorganic compounds and Chi-infused organics.

  His parents had high hopes that Ren would one day take over as the Master Alchemist for the Jin-song, a crucial leadership role in their ancient war against the tyranny of the gifteds.

  The line began to dwindle. “It’s our turn,” Quan said as she squeezed Ren’s hand. Together, she and Ren slowly made their way toward Cheng’s mahogany coffin.

  Ren dragged behind his mother as his insides quivered. His legs felt unsteady as the shakiness spread to his limbs.

  Quan stopped and crouched in front of her son. She held his face in her hands. “This is the last chance to say goodbye to your brother,” she said in a whisper-soft voice.

  Ren nodded his understanding even though the words were beyond the reach of his comprehension. I just saw Cheng. Why would this be the last chance to say goodbye? I don’t want to say goodbye to him.

  They continued their slow pace toward the casket which had tiny rivers of rain flowing off the corners. The crowd of somber faces parted for Ren and his mother. They patted his shoulders as he passed and offered a sea of apologies for things that Ren did not think necessary of forgiveness.

  Ren gently placed his little fingers on the bronze railing around his brother’s casket. The world around him seemed to have fallen into a void as he did. Every sound from spoken words to whispering wind vanished, leaving only a nervous silence in his head. Ren fixed his eyes at the closed lid of Cheng's coffin expecting it to open any moment, hoping, begging that it would.

  When it didn’t, Ren began speaking to his brother in his mind as if reciting a prayer. Cheng. Cheng. Cheng! Are you really in there? You need to come out. Everyone here is waiting for you. Ren’s knuckles turned white as he increased his grip. Please, Cheng. Please. I miss you. I don’t want to see you go…

  “Ren…” His mother rested her hands on his shoulders.

  Water flicked off his jet black hair as he shook his head. “Not yet mommy. Cheng is still inside. I can’t leave him by himself.” He looped his arms through the railing around Cheng’s casket, refusing to let go.

  Quan knelt beside Ren and settled her forehead on her son’s head. Her tears fell faster than the rain. “Only his body is inside. His soul is in Heaven now,” she struggled with each word as she folded him into her bosom.

  Ren fought to hang onto Cheng’s casket. “Please, mommy. Don’t make me go. He’s going to come out any moment! I know it! Please!”

  Two delicate, warm hands fell onto Ren’s icy, wet fingers. As if by magic, streaks of color returned to Ren’s dark, dreary world. He looked up to see a pair of honey brown irises belonging to his best friend, Crystal, staring down at him. The tension in his body melted away as he noticed her quivering chin.

  “I can’t leave him, Crystal. I can’t leave my brother. No... I won't...” The words barely escaped his trembling lips. A torrent of tears streaked down his cheeks.

  She held a finger to his lips to quiet and calm him. “I have something to show you. Come, you’ll want to see this.” Her lips curved into a half-smile.

  He wiped away his tears and released himself to her.

  Crystal nodded at Quan and escorted Ren away from the mass of mourners. They didn’t speak as they climbed the stairs toward the central shrine in the heart of the Jin-song city and then eastward toward the housing complexes.

  “What is it you wanted to show me?” Ren asked as the rain started to fall faster in bigger globs.

  Crystal unpacked her umbrella and positioned it over their heads. Even though they were the same age, Crystal stood a foot taller than Ren. Her midnight-black hair hung well past her shoulders, damp from the mountain mist and rain. She wiped away the dew dripping down her porcelain forehead.

  The sounds of students participating in morning martial arts classes carried into Ren’s ears — rhythmic grunting with the occasional sharp whistling of the instructor. Ren used to love watching Cheng teach weapon mastery classes to young Jin-song Warriors in training. He was one of the fastest Warriors to reach Jibie rank, doing so in less than a year. Most other Warriors took ten to fifteen years to reach the most senior level.

  Ren had never seen his brother lose a fight to anyone which made it even more impossible to him that Cheng died during his mission against the White Lotus. “I want to go back to him…”

  “Shhh,” Crystal said while holding onto his hand. “I really do have something to show you.” She placed the other hand on the small of his back and pushed him to continue.

  When they reached her dorm room, w
armth washed over Ren as the sweet smell of lavender wafted into his nostrils, a sharp contrast to the damp, wooden, musky smell delivered by the forest rain. Crystal always carried a scent of flowers and sweetness, but her room amplified the aroma. Ren and Crystal spent many nights together here, playing Chinese Checkers, Go, and Mah Jong late into the evening. All Jin-song children had to learn and understand strategy games. To the Order, warring was more than just fighting with swords and magic. Gifteds had a natural advantage over the Jin-song with their innately powerful talents. The Jin-song had to excel in strategy and tactics to stand a chance.

  “Give me a second.” Crystal lay flat on the ground as she searched underneath her bed. She pulled out an unpainted wooden box and presented it to Ren with outstretched arms. “Your brother asked me to hide this from you since he knew you liked to snoop around his bedroom. I know your birthday is a couple of weeks away, but…” She blinked away the water building behind her eyelids. “Well, this is from him.”

  Ren stared at the box for a moment before taking it. He seemed confused as to what to do with it.

  “Open it!” Crystal’s lips curled into a smile.

  Ren sat down with his legs folded beneath him. He slowly opened his present to reveal a leather-bound sketchbook. His fingers flipped through the blank pages, stopping at the very last page where his brother left a note written in Chinese.

  With your alchemy smarts and my astonishing martial arts abilities, we’re going to be the family that leads the Jin-song to the Great Victory. Love you, little brother.

  Tears began to drip onto the blank white pages of the book.

  Crystal handed Ren a tissue. “He saw that you were nearly finished with your current one, so he got you a new one.” She pulled the book from him and then wrapped her arms around his shivering body. “I know, Ren. He was my friend, too. I miss him so much.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.

  They huddled in silence until the shaking stopped and the tears dried. Crystal rubbed his back, trying to soothe his pain away.

  His head rested on her chest, rising and falling with each of her breaths. Ren heard the sound of air entering and leaving her lungs mixed with the beat of her heart. The steadiness of the rhythm diffused the anxiety in his mind. He untangled himself from Crystal and stared into her wide eyes.

  “Why couldn’t the healers fix him?”

  “I don’t know, Ren. I’m sure they tried.”

  Ren pushed himself up and wiped the snot dripping from his nose with his forearm. “I have a Healing Cordial in my room.” He began turning away, heading for the door. “If I give it to…”

  Crystal latched onto his arm, pulling him back. “I have something for your birthday, too. I guess since we’re here and you’ve already opened one present…” Crystal walked to her dresser and pulled out a cube of multi-colored origami paper.

  Ren’s eyes followed her initially before drifting to the shelves full of origami animals. Crystal introduced origami to him when he was five. Since that day, he had a goal of learning one new fold a month. He gave Crystal the best, most perfect creations which she kept on her shelf across from her bed.

  She waved him over to her. “Do you know the story about the Japanese girl and the Thousand Paper Cranes?”

  He shook his head.

  “Legend has it that if you make a thousand paper cranes, the Gods will grant you one wish. It could be anything you want."

  Ren raised his eyebrows. “Really? Anything?”

  Crystal nodded. “It works! I’ve done it myself.”

  “What did you wish for? Did it come true?”

  She held his hand and smiled. “Well… so far it has.”

  Ren felt her warmth flowing through his body. For a moment, he had forgotten about his brother’s passing until she spoke again.

  “Do you know what you want to wish for?”

  2

  Age Twelve

  Ren nestled into his favorite corner of Kunlun, a lush, cozy forested nook, accessible via overgrown trails and ageless stone bridges, hidden in the southwest mountain region. From his backpack, he removed his sketchbook and pencil. He began observing the natural world around him. His eyes followed the stream of rushing water bubbling down from geothermal springs that flowed over the mountainside. He spent hours here each week studying the movements of nature, the flight of birds, the sway of the vibrant flower blossoms, and the dance of light and shadow as the sun beamed through luscious green leaves.

  A scarlet and gold emperor butterfly landed on a white peony bush to Ren’s right. He picked up his pencil and began sketching the creature, capturing the luscious details of its ornate, intricate wings.

  In many ways, Kunlun was a utopia for the Jin-song, providing shelter and obscurity in a world increasingly filled with gifteds. Built high above sea-level on top of geothermic springs in a secluded area of Western China, many have said Kunlun was where magic blended with reality. In this miraculous pocket of Earth, the Jin-song found warmth where there should be frost, fertile soil where nothing should be able to grow, and unique species of plants and animals that existed nowhere else in the world. The founders of Kunlun thought the Gods themselves sent them this haven.

  Ren furrowed his brow as he stared at the butterfly posing in front of him. He had trouble focusing on the exquisite details as other concerns pressed against his thoughts. In a month’s time, many expected him to join the ranks of the Jin-song Warriors after passing the Kaoshi, an evaluation of the five major disciplines favored by the Jin-song:

  Alchemy

  Martial Arts

  Natural Sciences

  History

  War

  It was once a given that Ren would take the Kaoshi to become a Warrior. Since Cheng's death, that was no longer a certainty. Pressure came from every angle of Ren’s life. His parents, his friends, and Crystal, the girl who increasingly dominated his thoughts.

  The past few years were not kind to the Jin-song. Their numbers continued to diminish as gifteds hunted down Warriors. Numerous bases fell as the tide of gifteds continued to swell.

  Ren tried again to sketch the beautiful emperor butterfly. The gold trimming on its wings illuminated as the sun reached its zenith. He came to his private nook to escape the concerns of the world and to find moments of tranquility. He knew he had precious few left before deciding whether to commit his life to fighting for a cause he had little understanding of and one that already cost him his brother.

  Crystal passed her Kaoshi last month. She knew she would become a Jin-song Warrior from the moment she picked up a dagger. Cheng's death only affirmed her decision. Ren and Crystal were very different in that way. The things that caused Ren to hesitate, Crystal would run screaming towards.

  When Ren thought about Crystal, he often found himself incapable of stopping. He flipped to a fresh page in his sketchbook and started a new drawing. In an instant, the mass of curved lines and round shapes transformed into her side profile. He made sure to emphasize Crystal's almost perfectly shaped almond eyes as he layered in the shadowing and depth.

  “Hey, you!” Crystal shadow-stepped in front of Ren. “What are you drawing this time?”

  Her sudden appearance startled Ren, who jumped and nearly threw his pencil into the flowing stream. “Nothing important.” He tried to put away his sketchbook in his backpack.

  Crystal snatched it from him and smiled. “Oh, I like this one. You must stare at my face a lot to draw me with this much detail from memory,” she said in a teasing voice.

  His cheeks turned a dark shade of crimson as he cleared his throat. “Sometimes, I guess. We do hang out a lot.”

  “You know I’m just kidding. I love all the attention!” She plopped down next to him.

  Ren took his sketchbook back and tucked it away in his backpack. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Master Lim for hand-to-hand fighting?”

  Crystal held up her forearm to show him purple welts scattered everywhere. “Just finished,” she said followed by a g
roan. “He doesn’t think I’m ready to spar against the upperclassmen. I’m so tired of practicing my stance and perfecting my form. Beating on wooden dummies is so boring. I just want to hit people sometimes.” She snickered.

  Ren offered an uneasy laugh but didn’t add to the conversation.

  She took Ren’s hand in hers. “Soooooo. Your mom asked me to talk to you about the Kaoshi.”

  Ren gazed up into the sky and released a deep exhale. “Everyone’s pressuring me to join. I just want to think about it more if that’s OK.”

  Her mouth slackened. “Our parents have been putting us together since we were kids. My earliest memories were you and me playing together. You’re supposed to be my Huoban, my Jin-song partner in life and battle. I don’t want someone else to be my Huoban.”

  “I know. I know.” Ren's fingers felt restless and needed something to work away the nervous energy. He pulled out a small stack of origami paper from his backpack and began folding them into cranes. “It’s just… I don’t want to hurt people. And I don’t want to die like my brother.”

  Crystal leaned into his shoulder. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Someone has to be the strong one,” she said with a smirk.

  Ren didn’t find her comment amusing.

  “Your family was one of the founders of the Jin-song. I don’t know what they’ll do if you decide not to become a Warrior.”

  “Do you see my problem now? I think my father would kill me.”