Page 2 of Whispers of the Dragon
Solemnly, his father nodded his head. “She was.”
“Does that mean you’re lonely now?” Ryu asked another question, like all children do when learning something for the first time.
“From time to time,” his father admitted before bringing his son closer to him. “But you keep me plenty company these days.”
Ryu chuckled, even though his heart began to feel heavy for his father. He had only felt sadness for himself for losing hismother, but now he understood the gravity of his father’s own sadness.
“How did you know she was your fated mate?”
“Oh, you’ll know,” his father said, giving his own chuckle. “Unlike everyone else in this village, and even on this earth, you’ll have the ability to know. It will be like”—a soft smile touched his lips in remembrance—“magic.”
Ryu trusted he would since he now felt the magic in the tethered string between him and the massive being, but then he felt that string ever so slightly loosen what was once so taut as a single cherry blossom fell from a swaying branch.
They watched it float in the wind until it poignantly landed in Ryu’s somehow knowingly waiting hand.
He gulped, beginning to understand something. “And if I don’t find …”
His father confirmed his thoughts as he trailed off, knowing it was a lot to put on his son, but it must be done all the same. “You’ll need to find your fated mate before the last cherry blossom falls. If not”—he gave his own dry throat a swallow—“then you’ll be the last of us to exist.”
Numbly, Ryu stood, his boney knees buckling. He could barely walk as he began following the invisible string.
“Don’t worry, son.” His father sensed the earth-shattering weight he had just placed on the still tiny shoulders. “You’ll find her, just like I did, and our hundreds of ancestors before us. A Tei always does,” he assured him. It was clear he was now rethinking telling him today. “Then, when your son is born, the Sakura tree will magically rebloom overnight and stay that way until you tell him what I just told you, and what I was told at your age, too.”
Closing the distance, Ryu didn’t look back as his father continued to himself.
“The cycle will go on, becauseit must.”
Ryu had already been told of his purpose, why he had been born and why there must be a new son born every generation. It was the same reason he was secluded from children his own age, why he was forced to train every day, and why when someone approached his father, they bowed, the same way everyone in the village would one day bow to him.
Slowly, his small hand reached out and placed his palm on the solid bark. It took only a moment before he felt it …
The ticking.
2
You Must Seek
The Sakura tree that used to stand lush and proud now looked dull and barren with only about a quarter of its beautiful cherry blossoms left.
And that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
The connection between tree and boy had been strong, but between tree and man, it was now weak.
Where the sacred tree had become frail, Ryu had grown into a man worthy enough to carry the Tei family name. It was as if he had stolen its life force with each inch he had grown, and now that he stood at six foot six, with a strong enough build to take down any Komainu, there was not much else to take besides the remaining blossoms still holding their glory.
Nor time to spare.
“It’s dying,” Ryu spoke once he heard the footsteps. He’d never heard the footsteps approach behind him before, but like Ryu and the tree before him, his father had aged over time as well.
When the heavy footsteps paused beside him without a response, he looked at his father. Being able to visibly see how much time had passed on the tree, he was able to pay attentionto just how much time had actually passed on his father’s features. Time had at least been kinder to him than the tree, but his father’s light feet weren’t the only things that had changed, as silver sprinkled the sides of his once jet-black hair.
“I have looked into the eyes of every woman in this village three times over,” he began, pleading for his father to hear him for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Then tomorrow, you will do it for the fourth—”
“There is no time left!” Ryu’s thundering voice echoed out so strongly that three cherry blossoms fell with it. Staring down at the precious, scarce pink flowers, he took a shuddering breath. “There will be no village if our lineage dies out. Father”—he waited for him to finally look at him—“are you willing for me,your son,to be the last Tei in existence?”
The response he was finally given was one Ryu hadn’t expected.
