Pov Author
Shou Feng did not sit.
He stood beside the bed, unmoving, as if stillness itself bent around him.
Anna rested against the dark pillows, her breathing shallow, uneven—like the air no longer trusted her lungs to keep it safe. Each inhale trembled. Each exhale sounded like it might be her last.
The stone pulsed beneath her skin.
Amber light flickered faintly at the hollow of her throat, then dimmed again, retreating like something aware it was being watched.
Shou Feng's gaze never left it.
"You need to understand what you are about to claim," he said at last.
Anna turned her head slightly toward him. Her eyes were dull with exhaustion, but still sharp. Still listening.
"You're talking like I already chose," she murmured.
"You did," he replied calmly. "The moment it entered your heart."
Silence stretched between them.
Outside the chamber, the world held its breath.
"There were ten power stones at the beginning of this world," Shou Feng continued. "You already know that. What you do not know is why the Wind Stone was never meant to stay inside a living heart."
Anna swallowed. "Because it's too strong?"
"No," he said. "Because it listens too well."
Her brows knit faintly.
"The first master of the Wind," he said, "was cheerful. Elegant. Light-hearted in ways the others were not. She laughed easily. Loved deeply. She ruled gently."
Anna's lips curved faintly. "She sounds… nice."
"She was," he agreed. "And that was the problem."
The amber light flickered again.
"Wind is not like fire or earth," Shou Feng went on. "It does not burn or stand firm. It moves. It spreads. It carries what it touches. It remembers."
He stepped closer to the bed.
"When its master was joyful," he said quietly, "breezes cooled cities. Crops flourished. Songs carried across valleys. Sailors returned home safely."
His voice darkened.
"But when she was angry, storms rose without warning. When she grieved, the air stilled so completely that people suffocated in their sleep. When her heart broke—"
The shadows along the walls stirred.
"—the wind screamed for days," he finished. "Roofs torn from homes. Forests flattened. Children lost."
Anna's fingers curled into the blanket.
"She didn't mean to," she whispered.
"No," Shou Feng said. "None of them ever do."
He straightened.
"For centuries, they tried," he continued. "Passed the stone to monks. Scholars. Rulers trained to bury their feelings. But repression only worsened it. Wind does not disappear when silenced. It builds. It waits."
Anna exhaled slowly, carefully. "So they stopped putting it in hearts."
"Yes."
He met her gaze.
"They forged a vessel instead."
Before he could say more—
Anna gasped.
Her hand flew to her chest.
The amber light exploded outward, veins glowing beneath her skin as pain ripped through her like lightning.
She cried out, body folding forward as if something inside her had twisted violently.
"Anna—"
She slid off the bed.
Shou Feng caught her instantly.
She was shaking—hard, uncontrollable tremors wracking her body. Her fingers clutched his robes, desperate, grounding.
"It hurts," she sobbed. "It's—burning—"
"I know," he said immediately.
He lifted her back onto the bed and sat, pulling her against him without hesitation. One arm locked around her shoulders. The other pressed firmly against her back.
The stone pulsed harder.
Shou Feng closed his eyes.
"This stone," he said calmly, even as shadows began to rise from his hands, "does not fear pain."
Red sigils ignited faintly in the air.
"It fears authority."
He placed his palm flat against her sternum, directly over her heart.
Darkness unfurled—not violent, not devouring. Dense. Controlled. Ancient.
His power did not strike the stone.
It claimed the space around it.
His magic threaded through her ribs, her breath, the rhythm of her heart—two forces that had once erased civilizations now moving with surgical precision.
The stone resisted.
Amber flared violently, crashing against his power like lightning.
Anna screamed.
Shou Feng leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers.
"Enough," he commanded softly.
Not to her.
To the stone.
His power wrapped tighter—not crushing, not consuming—just reminding it what true dominance felt like.
The resistance cracked.
The amber light dimmed.
Anna collapsed against him, sobbing as the pain dulled into a heavy ache.
Shou Feng did not pull away.
"You will not harm her," he said quietly.
The stone stilled.
That night, he did not leave her.
He stayed seated beside the bed, letting her sleep against his chest. When pain returned, he calmed it before it could crest. When her breathing faltered, he steadied it.
He did not sleep.
Morning came pale and cold.
When it was time to leave, Shou Feng did not ask if Anna could walk.
He lifted her into his arms.
"I can—" she started weakly.
"No," he said simply.
He carried her through corridors, through gates, through frost-bitten air. When the cold worsened, he draped a fur cloak over her shoulders himself, fastening it carefully.
When her head lolled, he adjusted her until her cheek rested against his shoulder. Later, when they stopped, her head rested on his lap.
"The Wind Whisperer," he told her as snow began to fall, "was hidden by the Ice Stone's last master. Deep in the southern mountains. Where cold dulls emotion. Where breath slows."
"And if I get it?" she murmured.
"The moment you claim it," he said, "the stone in your heart will be forced to leave."
She smiled faintly. "Commander of wind."
For the briefest moment, Shou Feng smiled too.
"What if it doesn't choose me?" she asked.
His eyes darkened.
"Then it will learn," he said smoothly, "that this is no longer its choice."
She laughed weakly—and immediately winced.
"Don't," he warned softly, adjusting her.
By the time they reached the mountain camp, snow blanketed the ground.
Mong bounded ahead like the cold was merely a suggestion.
Anna sat supported against a large rock, Mong dropping beside her with exaggerated care.
"You know," Mong said, whispering loudly, "he doesn't do this."
"Do what?" Anna asked.
"Erase people. Nearly kill Renji. Break realms. He has Abandon me on missions."
Her brows lifted faintly.
"He left me in the Void of Screaming Souls once," Mong continued cheerfully. "Said it was character development."
Anna stared.
"He came back eventually," Mong added. "After destroying three cities."
She swallowed.
"You're not insignificant," Mong said more softly. "He erased Lord Kazan. He respected that man. Almost killed Renji for standing too close to you."
Anna hesitated. "Do you think he lo—"
"Anna."
She looked up.
Shou Feng stood there.
The next day, they reached the temple.
Despite the freezing air, water flowed freely—streams winding through stone, droplets echoing endlessly.
The temple was ancient. Dark stone. Green moss. Leaves clinging to pillars.
Kiyoshi stepped forward.
Symbols ignited along the pillars—ancient runes glowing softly as the air began to move.
Shou Feng pointed.
Anna followed his gaze.
And there—
Suspended in the heart of the temple—
The Wind Whisperer revealed itself.
---
To be continued..