2 Primordial Bone Script
702 Words
As the Chief and elders concluded their prayers, all able-bodied men assumed expressions of solemn reverence, bowing deeply. Women and children gathered as well, their silent pleas hanging heavy in the air – prayers for the safe return of their hunters.
Thus equipped with great bows and broadswords, the village's strongest departed, vanishing into the embrace of mist-shrouded peaks and treacherous marshes. The raw, primal aura of the Desolate Wilds closed around them instantly.
Left behind, the children slumped together, faces drawn like wilted leaves under a scorching sun, their reluctance palpable.
"Useless!" one boy muttered, kicking at the dirt. "Father's archery lessons are ten times more useful!"
"You ignorant sprouts!" Old Chief Mu Yunfeng's voice cracked like a whip, tinged with exasperation. "Primordial Bone Script – these are symbols of power, naturally etched onto the bones of mighty Ancestral Behemoths! They hold mysteries beyond your grasp. Countless souls yearn for this knowledge without a path to tread. Master even a fragment, and you will surpass your fathers by leagues!"
"Little One, come here," the Chief called towards the edge of the gathering.
"Show them the Bone Symbol I taught you," Mu Yunfeng instructed.
With a soft "Humm," light coalesced in the toddler's palm. A strange, intricate symbol materialized, gleaming with metallic luster as if cast in liquid steel. Soon, an identical glyph shimmered into existence on his other hand.
"Incredible!" The children gasped in unison. How could a child barely over a year old summon such power?
"Ee-ya, all gone," the little one chirped, dropping the stone and plopping onto his bottom. He beamed, a picture of innocent exhaustion, as the symbols on his palms flickered and vanished.
"Don't get overly excited," the Chief tempered their awe, nodding slowly, then shaking his head. "This merely lights the path. It is a far cry from the legendary Celestial Bone Script of ancient tales."
Every soul in Woodgrove knew the stories. In his youth, the Old Chief had journeyed with a band of the village's strongest warriors to the very rim of the known world, venturing far beyond the safety of the wilds.
For decades since, he had delved into the secrets of the Bone Script, often testing its principles on the village's hardiest men. The children knew this well. They remembered the blood-chilling howls that echoed from the stone courtyard whenever their fathers, men strong as tigers and dragons, were summoned. It had bred an early mix of dread and deep-seated respect.
"The world beyond..." The Chief's gaze grew distant, clouded by memory and a profound melancholy. "It is vast. Boundless. To travel from one realm to another spans millions of li. None know its true breadth. A man could walk his entire life and never leave a single domain. The Desolate Wilds stretch without end. Communication between distant human lands is perilously rare. The earth teems with terrifying, ancient powers. Even tribes of hundreds of thousands, even mighty citadels of stone, could be obliterated between dusk and dawn by mere few Ancestral Behemoths." He paused, then added, a spark igniting in his eyes, "Yet, there exist humans of unimaginable might – Paragons of our kind – whose power rivals the greatest beasts, wielding god-like majesty."
A faint smile touched his lips. "If you wish to know more... first grow strong."
Mu Yunfeng ruffled a boy's hair. "Forget other realms. Merely traversing half of this domain would be a feat for the ages!"
"My role is to ignite the spark within you," the Chief said, his voice deepening. "Where that flame leads... rests in your hands. What I teach you will not pale beside the knowledge given to children of your age in the great outside world." As he finished, an unreadable light flickered in his eyes. His hand drifted unconsciously to touch a piece of uncannily warm jade bone hidden within his robe.
"Years?" a girl whispered, dismayed. "The Chief said it might take years for even one of us to truly fuse a sliver of Bone Script into our bodies... and most might never succeed at all."
- Writer
