It had been quite some time since Sen last found himself caught quite so flat-footed. He blinked a few times before he managed to put together a vaguely coherent thought.
“Could you explain that, please?”
Dawn Tide shrugged.
“The vendetta between the so-called Beast King and humans has almost nothing to do with us. There are great oceans of water, and lakes so large they might as well be seas. Mighty rivers cut across the land for thousands of miles. It’s simple enough for us to avoid humans if we so wish it. It’s only occasionally,” he said with a significant look at the spring, “that we find ourselves in unavoidable conflict with those of you from the land. Why take up a fight that gains us nothing and means even less?”
Sen nodded at the explanation. His own experience with the water was limited to two trips on a ship that stayed close to the coast. Master Feng had talked about how impossibly vast the oceans were, but explanations weren’t the same as experience. From the way Dawn Tide spoke, Sen suspected that his idea of an ocean’s size was too small. It might even be drastically undersized. He knew his sense of the continent’s size had been too limited. It was only by conquering a sizeable piece of it that he truly came to appreciate the distances involved. From what Master Feng had said, the oceans were far larger. Of course, that was a secondary concern at the moment. He wanted to focus on the koi-man’s clear disdain for the Beast King.
“I take it you don’t acknowledge the Beast King’s authority?”
“What authority? He’s managed to frighten the spirit beasts in this land. Made them pay lip service to his authority, but he is a king only in his mind. He does not approach those of the water. It’s because he knows that his strength is nothing compared to those that live beneath the waves. But you already know that.”
Sen frowned and said, “I know. What do you mean?”
“You slew a child of one of the lesser guardians.”
An involuntary shudder ran through Sen’s body. He knew what the koi-man was talking about. There was only one event that fit this description. On one of his two ocean trips, he’d faced a monstrosity from the ocean. That fight had come frighteningly close to killing him. The knowledge that the creature he fought was the child of something called a lesser guardian was chilling on more than one level. It meant that there were far worse and more powerful things lurking in those depths. It also meant that there was some kind of hierarchy in the sea. Were there kings, queens, emperors, and empresses of the deep? What hideous strength would such beings have? If such spirit beasts ever chose to come onto the land, there might well be nothing that anyone could do to stop them. Sen swallowed hard before he asked his next question.
“And will the spirit beasts of the water continue to remain neutral in this conflict?”
Dawn Tide offered another shrug and said, “I expect that depends almost entirely on you, Emperor Lu. To my knowledge, you’ve done nothing sufficient to offend our leaders. As long as you continue on that path, I can’t see a reason why they would interfere.”
Sen thought hard for a moment. He needed to consider his next words with great care. The consequences could prove more extreme than he could predict. Of course, the consequences of not achieving victory in the war were equally extreme. Master Feng had warned Sen that he might have to make unsavory deals to achieve what he wanted. Granted, it seemed unlikely that Sen had anything to offer the spirit beasts of the water that would convince them. But if he could convince them to help him, it could change everything.
“And if I wished to involve your people on the side of humanity, do you believe there is some bargain to be struck?”
The koi-man said nothing for most of a minute. Sen was caught between a vague sense of hope and a nebulous sense of dread. It was clear that this spirit beast was not high in whatever hierarchy ruled beneath the water. But it was a chance Sen needed to take. This might be the one and only opportunity to reach out to an otherwise inaccessible power. Of course, enlisting that power might require sacrifices that Sen either couldn’t or wouldn’t make. For all that some spirit beasts adopted appearances that resembled humans, they weren’t human. Their motives and thoughts were alien. But they could be reasoned with at times. Whether this would turn out to be one of those times remained to be seen. As to what sacrifices might be required, there was just no way to tell without opening some kind of negotiation. When Dawn Tide finally spoke, it wasn’t what Sen had hoped to hear.
“I am no king or emperor to speak for all those who dwell in the water. Among them, I am not particularly powerful. I am not honored. All I can do is tell you what I believe to be true.”
“Very well. What do you believe to be true?”
“There are some who might join your cause because they crave the bloodshed of battle. Others, those who dwell near the shores, might join because they wish to establish good relations with you, specifically. But for the majority, I do not believe they will help you. You have little to offer in exchange when the price might be death. The things you value, gold, silver, gems, mean little to us. We either don’t use them or already have them in abundance. The goods you make will not survive in the water. So, trade is largely meaningless. Nor do the lands hold many natural treasures we value. I am only here because I have need of the medicinal value of this specific treasure. Perhaps the most important reason is the simplest. Those under the water do not care what happens to those on the land, be they spirit beasts or humans.”
Sen grimaced. Dawn Tide might not be a king, but he likely had a feel for what those spirit beasts of the water thought of those on land. As it turned out, what they thought was not much. It was a brutal truth, but one that didn’t leave Sen any worse off than he had been. It was just hard to know that there was a source of power that could turn the tide that remained entirely out of reach. Then again, he realized that he should probably be grateful for that indifference. If they had stronger opinions, it felt all too likely that they would have chosen to help the spirit beasts on land, rather than helping humans. That would have spelled utter annihilation for humanity. I’ll just have to continue on as I have been, thought Sen. The thought might have been tinged with a little bitterness, but tempered by knowledge that it could be far worse.
“I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me,” said Sen.
The koi-man looked a little startled at that comment. Something that Sen found a kernel of humor in.
“You aren’t angry?” asked Dawn Tide.
“What is there to be angry about? I asked you a question. You answered me. The answer might not be what I want to hear, but that isn’t your fault,” said Sen before he turned to Falling Leaf. “We should be on our way if we’re going to find you something worth hunting.”
Falling Leaf immediately put the skewer of meat she’d been eating into a storage ring and came over to join him. Sen considered the koi-man for a moment before mentally searching through his storage rings. He summoned a pearl that was also rich in water qi and tossed it to Dawn Tide. While the spirit beast was still gaping at the natural treasure, Sen formed a qi platform and lifted himself and Falling Leaf in the air. She gave him a curious look.
“Why give him that?”
Sen hadn’t had any particular motivation in mind when he did it. His intuition just told him that it was the right choice.
“Who knows? Maybe it’ll prove to be a good investment one day.”