Leiyu's Travels

The caravan's hired guards had already been slain by the bandits and the remaining merchants huddled together in fear. One of them held up a sword, ready to defend his colleagues, but even he was shaking uncontrollably.

The bandits were shrouded in long black hooded robes and sat atop their horses. Their faces were hidden behind masks that only revealed their eyes. One of them wielded a scimitar and began to charge towards the merchants. The merchants screamed, thinking that today would be their last day.

A lone arrow suddenly whistled through the air and struck the scimitar-wielding bandit in the chest, knocking him off his horse. The other bandits were startled and looked in the direction where the arrow came from.

In the distance, Leiyu sat atop his horse, bow in hand. The veil on his weimao and his long brown cloak fluttered in the arid desert wind.

Angered at this intrusion, the other bandits pulled out their scimitars and began to charge. Leiyu reached for more arrows from his quiver. He pulled out three and nocked them against the bowstring at different angles. Holding the bow horizontally, he let the arrows fly.

Three bandits were struck down.

The merchants gasped in awe.

Suddenly, a scythe blade attached to a chain hurled through the air in Leiyu’s direction. Leiyu pulled out his sword and blocked the incoming blade. However, the force of the impact knocked him off his horse. He landed on the desert sand and looked up through his veil.

A short distance away, Leiyu saw a wraithlike figure backlit by the desert sun. He wore flowing black robes and sat atop a horse. The flying scythe blade had returned to his hand. The figure wore a head covering and a frightening mask with black holes for eyes, stripes streaked across the cheeks, and a menacing painted grin with sharp teeth.

“Stranger, you should not have interfered,” the figure bellowed. “Now that you’ve killed some of my men, you must perish as well!”

***

The masked man, who was the leader of the bandits, threw his chained scythe blade at Leiyu once again. As the talon-like instrument hurtled towards him, Leiyu spun out of the way. Laughing behind his painted smirk, the masked man hurled a dagger at Leiyu. As the dagger whooshed through the air towards him, Leiyu held out his sword and deflected it while in mid-spin. He landed deftly on his feet and his weimao slipped off and settled at his back, held there by the long chin cord around his neck. Freed from the hat, his long ponytail cascaded outward.

“You’re quite skilled,” said the masked man. “Let’s see if you can handle more.”

With a wave of his hand, he summoned the other bandits.

“Attack!” he bellowed.

The mass of bandits surged towards Leiyu, scimitars drawn. Leiyu glared at the oncoming horde. He then took his sword and plunged the blade into the sand.

The masked man paused, unsure of what Leiyu was up to.

Leiyu gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand. Wind began to swirl around it. With his left hand, Leiyu raised two fingers in front of his face and closed his eyes. His expression was serene.

The horde of scimitar-wielding bandits was approaching fast, accompanied by the deafening sound of their horses galloping and kicking up clouds of sand.

Leiyu suddenly opened his eyes. With his sword still plunged into the sand and his hand held before his face, he generated a whirlwind that radiated outwards towards the bandits.

“Ahhhhh!” screamed the bandits as the whirlwind knocked them over.

The masked man braced himself against the powerful gales coming his way.

What sorcery is this? he wondered.

Nevertheless, he was determined to win and hurled his chained scythe blade at Leiyu once again.

Leiyu sensed the oncoming threat and leapt out of the way. He swung his sword and it connected with the chain. The chain wrapped itself around the blade of his sword. Since the masked man was still holding the other end of the chain, Leiyu pulled his sword backward sharply, yanking the other man off his horse. He pulled the chain until it slipped out of the masked man’s hands. He then shook the chain off his sword and the scythe blade flopped onto the sand.

Narrowing his eyes, Leiyu addressed the masked man. “Would you like to continue?”

The masked man was at a loss for words. As the leader of one of the most notorious groups of bandits in the desert, he had never suffered as humiliating a defeat as this.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Leiyu smiled.

“Just a stranger…passing by…”

“Retreat!” the masked man shouted to the other bandits. Better to cut their losses than to continue fighting against this stranger who could summon the wind. With a fluttering of long black robes, the horde withdrew, their galloping horses kicking up a cloud of sand in their wake.

Leiyu stood there and watched, his long hair flowing in the wind.

“Good sir!” a voice called.

He turned.

“Good sir! Thank you so much!” said one of the merchants as his colleagues kowtowed to show their gratitude. “How can we repay you?”

“Where are you headed?” Leiyu asked.

“The Kingdom of Ishkhandar in the Western Region,” the merchant replied. “We are delivering a shipment of silk and porcelain to the royal palace.”

The royal palace? Leiyu thought. Wow…“Then, allow me to accompany you and protect your caravan against other bandits. I’m heading westward myself, so you guiding me along will be enough for repayment.”

***

Smoke curled from the tabletop fire pit as Leiyu finished telling his story to Prince Thallios.

“Wow!” Prince Thallios exclaimed. “You’re a mighty swordsman and archer! With magical powers!”

Leiyu smiled. He was not used to being flattered, especially by someone with higher social status. “Eh, it’s nothing. Anyway, we eventually ended up here, delivering the full shipment of silk and porcelain.

“I had no idea how much effort it took. Or how dangerous it was.”

“The trade caravan will remain here for a while, then return eastward with glassware and gemstones.”

“Ah yes, Ishkhandar is known for those.”

Leiyu glanced at Prince Thallios and noticed all the gemstones that were on him. In the twilight, the prince’s ruby forehead jewelry, earrings, and necklace glistened. Even the silver ring on his right index finger seemed to sparkle. He continued to stare, somewhat mesmerized.

“Will you continue traveling?” Prince Thallios asked, bringing Leiyu’s mind back to the present.

“I’d like to,” Leiyu replied. “I still haven’t visited the Southern Region.”

“I’d like to travel someday. I’ve never been outside of this palace.”

“What?! Never?!”

The prince shifted in the divan and sighed. “In all my twenty-one years, I have not set foot outside of these palace walls.”

He’s twenty-one? Leiyu thought. Just a year younger than me.

“But, isn’t a prince supposed to go out and become familiar with the land that he will someday rule?”

“Yes, it’s a bit unusual, isn’t it?” Prince Thallios lowered his eyes solemnly. “Ever since my mother passed away, my father has been overprotective and just wants me to stay in the palace.”

“Oh…” Leiyu had not expected the conversation to take this turn. “I am sorry…about your mother…”

Prince Thallios was silent.

“It’s all right,” he finally said. “It has been over ten years already” He looked upwards at Leiyu. “What about your parents?”

“Oh…I don’t have any…”

“Oh?”

“I’m an orphan. I don’t remember who my parents were.” He took a deep breath. “I just know that when I was a small child, I was found on the streets during a large thunderstorm. That’s actually what my name means. Lei (雷) means thunder and yu (雨) means rain. I don’t know my real birth name or if I even have one.”

Leiyu’s mind went back to that day in his childhood. He remembered being curled up with his back against the wall of a building. The heavy rains fell on the awning above him. He shivered in his threadbare clothes. Sensing the presence of another, he looked up and saw an elderly man holding an umbrella with one hand. The man had snowy white hair tied up in a simple bun held together by a wooden hairpin. He had a flowing beard and a kind expression. His robes were plain and he held a parcel with his other hand.

“Shifu, an old martial arts master, found me and took me in,” said Leiyu. “Shifu had other disciples. I was raised alongside them. He trained us in different styles of martial arts.”

“Ah, that’s where you learned it,” Prince Thallios remarked. “Where is Shifu now?”

Leiyu was silent.

“He passed away a few years ago,” he finally replied.

“Oh!” Prince Thallios lowered his voice. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s all right. He was old and his health was deteriorating.”

Prince Thallios gave him a sympathetic look.

“It was after he passed away that I started traveling,” said Leiyu. “That’s how I ended up here.”

The corners of the prince’s mouth turned slightly upward. He shifted his head so that it was resting on his arm. Leiyu noticed that the prince’s eyes were starting to droop. It was getting late. Perhaps he wanted to sleep.

“Your Highness, should I go?” Leiyu asked. “They told us that we could stay in the guest quarters.”

Prince Thallios shook his head. “Mm, you can stay a little longer. It’s nice having someone to talk to…”

Leiyu looked at him. Was the prince lonely? Prince Thallios grew up in an extravagant palace surrounded by luxuries that Leiyu could not have even imagined when he was a child living on the streets. Yet, beneath that smiling face, Leiyu sensed melancholy. Losing his mother at a young age must have affected him deeply. Leiyu could not remember his own mother or father, so he could not quite relate, although he remembered feeling sad when Shifu passed away.

He noticed that the prince’s eyes were already closed. I should probably go. He looked up at the night sky. The crescent moon hung overhead and the stars twinkled. It had been a long day, and he had not rested much since the caravan arrived in Ishkhandar. He laid down on the divan.

I’ll go in a little bit, he thought. After I rest for a few minutes…