The Storyteller

Her voice

Noticing the gentle squeeze of his hand in hers, Bai Qian stopped talking to look up at him having almost fallen asleep from the retelling of yet another story.  He had been travelling again, and going by the fine lines etching his brow, it had once again been unsucessful.

"Were you able to make any progress at all?" she asked and becoming concerned, because they had almost run out of food.

"I'm not sure.  Di Jun was asleep, so I don't know if he heard me or not." Mo Yuan replied and more than a little downcast at having failed once again.

"Di Jun?  You mean Donghua Di Jun?" she asked not realizing that he was one her soldier was trying to make contact with.

"In order for us to keep our identities to ourselves, I can't explain any further, other than he is the one I am trying to contact." Mo Yuan explained and now too tired to speak having used far too much energy as it was.  

He knew he was weakening himself further, but it was their only hope at getting out of there, but if he didn't continue to try, then the risk of his death was just too great.

"Look.  I know you are tired, but listen to me for a moment." she said softly as the cogwheels in her mind began to churn.

"Alright, but I need to gather a little more cultivation from my barrier, so I might not answer." he replied tiredly.

Everytime he returned, he seemed to be more tired than before, his energy levels were so low, that she knew if he didn't stop the travelling, he might actually die which had her mind churning deeply on a possible solution, but unable to actually action any of the ideas that came to mind, mainly because she didn't know how, she was at a loss, but seeing as he was at least prepared to listen, she quietly explained one idea in particular that she thought might work.

"You said you placed a barrier around the mist which is keeping the rest of the world safe, so its safe to assume that if your barrier fell, then the mist will rapidly spread outwards and possibly kill anything and anyone caught in its path for miles." she began quietly.

"Well, what I wanted to know first, is if you remove your barrier, does that energy return to you, or is it lost with the mist?" she asked tentatively.  This was something that also concerned her.  She had not informed her soldier that she was a High Goddess which for a while, had her contemplating on his barrier.  She knew enough about the Higher energy to know, that only a High God could create a barrier that powerful, she also knew that she could break it if she tried hard enough.  Only she couldn't if it meant he would die, but that didn't mean they couldn't try something else.

Nodding his head lightly, Mo Yuan reached out for her hand.  Being blind was infuriating and debilitating, but there was something amazingly calm and reassuring in her energy which made him feel safe.  And it wasn't just the warmth of her hand in his either, but her voice.  Only that first day, did she raise her voice.  Once she had calmed down, her gentle manner and tone took over and he realized as he was listening to her, that her voice really was an anchor for him.  He liked to hear her talk because it meant he was still alive and still capable of doing something, even if lying there was just giving her something else to focus on.  Only her question had him wondering where her mind had gone to now, because something else that he was learning to love about her, was how distracted her mind could become.  

"The problem is, the influx of too much cultivation at once?  You are weak to the point of death, so regaining your energy too quickly would put too much strain on your organs so either it will kill you or the mist will, however you said you were using the barrier to gather cultivation for you in smaller amounts because you are still attached to it.  How does that work?" she asked and hoping he had enough strength to at least answer this question.