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.“Guide,” the instant correction came unbidden to his mind.Li Chin was flooded with relief at finding something in the void and his mind filled with a host of questions as to why and where he was.“Later, come.” Came the thoughts and he had the sensation of being pulled within the void at great speed, though to where he had no idea.A dim glow appeared in the distance, not a point of light as his guide had been but more like a brightening horizon, towards which they sped at incredible speed.Looking down Li Chin could see nothing of himself, only the guide resting where his hand should be.By the time he looked up again they were crashing through a blinding disc of light, which only a moment ago had been on the distant horizon.Once through to the other side the glare dimmed and Li Chin was suspended over the tableau he had just left.He could clearly see himself below, sword poised and ready to strike, waiting only for the command from Zu Wah.The stricken features of the forlorn Xiou, the villagers gathered around in a rough circle and the life guard interspersed between the villagers; everyone completely frozen in the moment his consciousness had been wrenched from within his own body.Before Li Chin could form a question, the guide pulled him upwards at a dizzying speed, the frozen tableau below rapidly shrinking until he could barely discern the individual figures, even the village becoming indistinct.He was again entering a dark void but this time the dark void beyond the clouds, which were suddenly below him and shrinking as he was pulled ever onwards.Events were happening so quickly Li Chin had little time to be afraid, astounded or even curious about what was happening, though all of these emotions surged within him as he was pulled further towards the stars.Darkness gave way to a ceiling of light, a light with no source which stretched across as far as Li Chin could see in all directions.Faster and faster they approached until, with a sickening lurch, they were passing through it, their progress suddenly being resisted until, with a virtual gasp by Li Chin, they were through!The ceiling of light which had been above them was now a bright pool below them.Rising out of the pool was a spiralling column made from thick cords of gleaming light, twisting around each other as they stretched up into the void.The colossal column towered upwards, appearing to fray and branch as it did so.These branches in turn also frayed and branched again and again.The column was like the trunk of a great tree casting a huge canopy of glowing branches, stretching beyond the point where Li Chin could distinguish them from a glowing haze.The awesome scale of the tree of light and the height it extended was disorientating, making Li Chin acutely aware of his own vulnerability and insignificance in the universe, utterly humbling in its awesome scale.Still unable to see any sign of his body or feel any of his surroundings, it was as if Li Chin’s consciousness were floating weightlessly in the void and he was almost overwhelmed by the sheer scale of his surroundings.His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a message being conveyed from his guide.“Have courage Warrior Priest!”Li Chin barely had time to take comfort from the command or register surprise, having momentarily forgotten his guide, when they were off again.Speeding towards the tree of light, which he could now see was slowly spiralling as it drew light within itself from the pool and into which it was slowly sinking downwards.The guide unerringly aimed for a particular strand as it hurtled them towards the twisting, colossal structure in front of them.The glowing strand which appeared slim from a distance rapidly became an enormous structure in its own right and almost blinding as they plunged directly into it.There was an immediate sense of descending, the dark void and the tree of light left far behind.As they drew closer to the ground Li Chin recognised the same tableau they had just left; only busy with activity and meaning now.He could see his own sword poised to make the swing at Zu Wah’s confirmation and then the guardian, he took to be himself, asked a question of Zu Wah, who gave the command to strike.There was a brief pause and his sword swung, catching the sun in a brief gleam before it completed a near circle.Xiou’s head seemed to leap from his shoulders, pushed away by a brief jet of crimson before his body dropped spasming to the bloodied ground.The old man’s children covered their eyes in horror unable to entirely look away, while his wife threw herself with a desperate cry at the crumpled heap that had been Xiou, trying to bring it and the dismembered head together again.The villagers surrounding the spectacle softly moaned in shared misery and fear, as Zu Wah turned towards his canopied dining area.He was reverently offered a porcelain cup of tea by one of his servants.Li Chin watched fascinated as he saw himself turn to follow Zu Wah, his double’s features rigid and all emotion suppressed whilst studiously ignoring his immediate surroundings and made for the place set beside Zu Wah [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]