180 Dream II (1/2)

Nothing of significance, though, and according to Azhar when Triple Threat was stationed in Riviera that it was something that would pass with time as Tia became more and more familiar with her powers.

Li put a hand to Tia's forehead and closed his own eyes, entering a state of divine meditation, his consciousness splitting from his human form in an instant, leaving him in the midst of the Winterwoods, at the very heart of his shrine.

This was very much like the astral projection spells of the game, but Li knew this was fundamentally different. It was no spell; it was simply an extension of his natural abilities that came with becoming more familiar with his godly nature.

Beside Li stood Tia, her figure a ghostly, see-through silhouette much like his. She held firmly onto his hand, and just as he could feel the heartbeat of the shrine next to him, he could feel Tia's own life pulsing through her tiny little hand.

Because she was soulbound to him, she could follow him when he entered this state of meditation, and this, she always enjoyed, feeling a sense of comfort in being able to travel the forests with him in a context that did not involve the rush of hunting and killing.

What she needed to soothe her nightmares was something much calmer, and this meditation served that exact purpose.

”How about we let the winds carry us today,” said Li as he looked out from his shrine, to the vast wide forest before him wreathed in dark and glazed with the shine of moonlight. Iona was busy tonight, not present in the shrine, likely fixing up barren patches of earth from when the Winterwoods were still without guardian.

”The winds fast. Too fast,” said Tia, worried.

”Tonight's winds are slow and gentle. And don't worry, even if they get faster, I'll keep you close.”

Li grasped Tia's spiritform hand tight as he let the winds carry them

As if on command, a gust rushed through the shrine and spirited their astral forms away, leading them wafting through the treetops, as if they had merged with the breeze itself.

The wind carried them further up, above the treetops, and there, the moonlit night revealed a work of art. The Winterwoods unfurled beneath them, the many leafy heads of trees packed together, their branches tinged with silvery moonlight and swaying gently in the night's chilly breeze.

Ever since Li had established his shrine in the Winterwoods, it had rejuvenated itself. The trees that had once been skeletal in appearance, their trunks withered, their bark ashen, and their branches leafless, had filled out with life and leaves.

”Look,” said Li as he squeezed Tia's hand and pointed down to a clearing. There, a small group of Red-Crested Deers lay by a flowing spring. Their crests – feathery crimson plumes that emerged from the center of their foreheads – glowed in the dark as a means to communicate with each other.

”Tasty,” said Tia as she looked longingly at the deer, her claws protruding. ”Can we hunt?”

”Not now,” said Li as he patted her head. ”I know you love to hunt, but there is a time for it. If you hunt all the time, soon enough, you will scare all the deer away, and there will be none more left.”

”Oh,” said Tia as she cocked her head, her claws retracting as her eyes looked to the deer in a more peaceful light. ”Then tomorrow.”

”Yes, tomorrow,” said Li with a smile. ”For now, though, let's just watch them.”

Li caught another wind that was making its way down towards the deer, and they followed it down beside the spring where they sat, though none would be able to tell they were there for their spiritual forms made no physical impressions on the grass.

Together, they watched the deer as they relaxed by the spring contentedly. There were five, a small group, with one young buck judging by the nubs at his head that had yet to grow into full antlers, and four does.

Through this meditation, Li could through his shrine interface in a way with the Winterwoods. He could move his consciousness throughout it and feel the flow of life everywhere. Generally, he felt a gentle, almost simmering warmth wherever he went which indicated that life was in balance.

The only time he had felt the cold touch of imbalance was a month ago, when a Darkbeast had made its way from a southern forest into the Winterwoods. To Li's vision, it was a distinctively alien presence, jarringly chilling amid the natural warmth that surrounded it, and he had made sure to eliminate it swiftly.