Chapter 10 The Sea of Steppes

When the young man met some lost travellers in the forest, he carefully avoided them, stopping for the night only when it was dark. 

Living with the bird-women had taught Cornflower to eat mostly plant foods, so he could find food easily even in the autumn forest. 

He didn't want to kill any animals, so after a light snack of berries and mushrooms he decided to lie down under a branching bush, wrapped himself in a cloak and began to circulating internal energy through the channels of his body, so as not to expose himself from a chance encounter with other humans or predators. 

With the first rays of the new day, he hastily shook off his cloak and continued on his way. 

He walked slowly, at a steady pace to saved the energy, but he noticed that his body was adapting more and more each day, though not as quickly as he would have liked. 

When he came to a large road that connected several countries by trade routes, Cornflower unnoticeably joined the motley crowd hurrying to the southern lands before the cold weather set in, hiding his true aura as his Teacher had instructed. 

There were many people to be found among the merchants and other travellers. 

Trying to stay in the shadows of the others, the young man looked with interest at the representatives of the various races. 

In the group he had secretly joined, the most prominent were the massively built desert dwellers. 

Both men and women of this race had well-developed muscles and deep, velvety voices. Their hair was tied in scarves and their clothes were suits of leather and cotton. 

The men wore metal armbands over their clothes, which served both as protection and weapons. 

When Cornflower went out into the world, he was very surprised by the number of people with underdeveloped inner energy streams. 

Living among the bird-women, who had developed their skills and mastery of both spear and energy since childhood, he had never imagined that anyone could rely solely on cold weapons in the form of spears, darts, swords or axes. 

Since the group was mostly made up of such people, he had no trouble following them and even exchanging a few words with them when they stopped without much questioning of his identity. 

As he walked with them, he managed to find out that there was indeed a war going on in the desert lands, connected with the division of territories of influence, mostly between local clans, which came to the surface like worms after the rain, causing ordinary people who were engaged in cattle breeding to leave these areas and move to the north and east.

When Cornflower first heard these discussions, he coughed tactfully to draw attention to himself and asked a question about a rumour about a group of refugees who had gone east and their gifts to the ruler of those places. He was silent about the mysterious sword, of course.

This question was met with a puzzled silence from the audience until one of the travellers who had joined the group like him supported him, but it turned out that the others in the group either did not know or did not want to know. Cornflower was not upset, he trusted his teacher anyway and wanted to visit Virdis in the south-east.

He was only interested in the traveller who supported the question. Like him, wrapped in his cloak, he was usually quieter than the grass. But since the group was large, it was naturally difficult to remember everyone.

Looking at the stranger, Cornflower decided to keep a careful distance from the group. He wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible. However, the stranger seemed to have the same opinion of him and they never saw him again, neither in the caravan site nor on the road.

The young man enjoyed the walk along the route. 

During the stops he was able to learn a lot about the way of life of the local people. 

And the passage through the vast sea of steppe on both sides of the trade route gave Cornflower time to feel the exuberant spirit of the place.

The winds that swept across the steppes rattled the floorboards of his travelling cloak day and night. 

The sudden changes in temperature at night sometimes chilled him to the bone, and the few villages along the way often had no shelter.

Still, Vasilk found the journey easy. It was like magic, but even on the coldest night his body and soul were warmed by the two quills hidden in his breast pocket. 

He hadn't realised before how much he cared for Twinkle. 

The fact that he had to leave her weighed heavily on him. But he was glad that she would stay within the Clan territory for another year. And after that, if she wanted, he would offer to take her out into the world.

He allowed that she might reject him.

After all, bird-women didn't like men. 

Still, he wished to remain on good terms with her, at least remembering their sincere friendship.

The further south his journey took him, the more he encountered places tainted by defilement energy. 

Whether they were the sites of ancient battles or minor skirmishes, Cornflower did not care. 

He had a mission from his teacher, and he could not turn his back on it. 

Every time he sensed such a place, he would leave the trade route behind and head deeper into the steppe. 

As soon as the currents within him calmed down, he could begin to cleanse the place of the filth, in simple words, he would suck in all the negative energy and like a filter cleanse it by releasing the natural energy of this place and the defilement energy would remain within him until he burned it with his own internal energy.

This was his speciality, the teacher called it true energy, like a pure purifying flame that only Cornflower could control and direct. 

Still, the negative energy brought a palpable discomfort within. 

In time, he learned to do everything at once, which made it much easier. 

But all this had one unpleasant effect on the young man - when he released the natural energy, some of it would also settle on him. 

As a result, all the animals that were particularly sensitive to it were attracted to him, both during the process and for some time afterwards.

This was tolerable in the wilderness, but when he approached settlements and cats, dogs and other domestic and non-domestic animals began to swarm around him from all sides, it caused him great discomfort and drew unnecessary attention to his person. 

For this reason he had to abandon the busy path and, avoiding populated areas, he walked in the wilderness parallel to the main path, returning to it only when the effect of the purification had worn off.

After one such session, a black steppe cat clung to him and would not leave, no matter how hard he chased it away. 

Once he even tried to run away from her by energising his legs, but to his surprise she found him a few days later in one of the rooms of the inn, bringing some mice in her teeth to his bed. 

It was a mystery to him how she had found him, since he was hiding as usual, which meant changing not only his aura but also the scent inherent to all creatures. 

Such a technique was only learnt in the clan of birds-woman, who hid themselves from choosen mates during the mating season, distorting the perception of both normal and men who own their energy.

Coming to terms with the appearance of a pet , Cornflower allowed the cat to share the hardships of the journey with him. 

After all, the journey is always easier with a companion. 

He gave her a name in honour of the grass growing on the field where they first met - Stipa.

The closer they got to the capital of the steppe lands, the more often they met members of the military class and whole processions of nobles and other representatives of the aristocracy, besides ordinary people. 

With so many horsemen and carts near the capital, Cornflower often had to put Stipa on his shoulders to prevent her from accidentally falling under the hooves or wheels. 

The cat did not mind this arrangement at all, curling up like a scarf and looking at everyone with her closed eyes, squinting with pleasure.

Sometimes the young man forgot the cat on his shoulders, and any careless movement that caused it to jump would result in its unhappy mewing, though otherwise it was very obedient and made no trouble.

So they approached the capital of the Steppe Lands, which towered over the vast steppes like a tiered cake at the centre of an empty table. It could be seen for miles around. 

The walls of the fortress were astonishingly high, and the bright torches burning on them were like beacons for travellers. 

Autumn was drawing to a close, and Cornflower's purse had grown very thin during the journey. 

Taking an example from the others, he decided to try to find an opportunity to work in the big city. 

Not that he had any particular talent for making money, but from what he had heard from the art-hungry bird-women, he had an exceptionally pleasant voice that could be used to make a good living singing in taverns or at street performances. 

Passing the guards and mingling with a group of shouting merchants, he travelled deeper into the city in search of work and shelter. 

The streets were teeming with people of all races and ages. 

Cornflowers's mouth dropped open in surprise. It was the first time he had seen so many people in one place since he woke up behind the Sacred Arbor barrier. 

To his surprise, he did not see a single member of the Steppe Clan among all the people. 

Remembering that their clan was gifted with impressive power, he was eager to analyse one of them. But he didn't meet any of them.

In the midst of the small buildings of the city, which were small shops and houses of profit, there were noble houses, taverns, workshops and brothels, which were so outlandish that a reluctant viewer would only look away.

The cherry on the cake were the inner walls that separated the local upper class from the common people.

Hiding the disgruntled Stipa behind his back, Cornflower entered the first tavern he could find and went straight to the manager, who was not a very pleasant man with rough features, and his character matched it.

He looked like he was of Sandpeople descent, but due to incest with several other races, his appearance was disproportionately garish.

Upon hearing the young man's request, the manager immediately looked down at the young man, whose face and hair were covered by a dusty cloak. 

He wrinkled his face in contempt. 

"I don't hire riffraff and foreigners, and I don't hire other riffraff. Why do you cover your face? Have you committed a crime? I don't want any trouble. Get out before someone has to escort you out."

Cornflower was outraged by this attitude, but remembering the strangers' sharp reaction to his appearance, he decided to leave in silence. 

With the same success, he visited several other taverns, all of which refused him in one way or another. 

Cornflower was hungry after all these adventures, but when he reached for his wallet, he couldn't find it. 

After rummaging through his pockets, he realised that he had probably just been robbed while making his way through the crowd. 

Stipa was standing nearby, watching him with a surprisingly intelligent and understanding look.

As he stroked the animal's head, Cornflower felt his stomach growl uncomfortably. 

But here in the city, there was no way to get food except by buying it, and the young man envied the cat for having enough to catch mice.

"Maybe you'll catch a mouse for me this time, I'm sure there are some around here somewhere," he smiled affectionately at her, and she yawned longingly. 

"Well, it'll be night soon enough."

Looking around him, he saw a blind beggar begging in front of a tavern where the company had gathered after a day's work. 

Taking Stipa in his arms, he also stood near the entrance and overcame his embarrassment, at first quietly, then bravely singing. 

It was an old ballad about three princes who had left their father's house to prove to their father-king that they were worthy to take his place, and each of them had taken a vow to honour their father's command to keep their souls untouched by worldly passions. 

But of the three, only the youngest of the princes was able to fulfil his father's commandment, for which his father gave him the throne.

Covering his eyes to concentrate on his voice, the young man did not notice that a crowd began to gather around him as soon as he began to sing. 

At first it was those who walked towards the diner, but then his melodious, soft voice travelled in waves around the area and began to attract listeners from outside. 

As soon as he finished, coins flew at his feet and applause erupted. 

Attracted by the sound, he opened his eyes and was startled by the number of people listening. 

Someone in the crowd shouted a request for a repeat, which was then taken up by others, and to the chanting of the crowd, Cornflower embarrassedly coughed and began to sing again. 

This happened several times. 

Some gawkers were replaced by others, and everyone who had listened at least once asked to hear it again. 

Only when it was dark and the crowd had died down was Cornflower able to catch his breath and collect the coins thrown to him from the ground. 

After counting them and stuffing them into his pockets, he approached the blind beggar and tossed him a few coins. 

"Thank you very much. You have a lovely voice, aren't you from around here?"

"Yes, you're right." 

And to avoid further questions, Cornflower moved away from the beggar and quietly called Stipa, who had left.

Now they had enough money for food and a cheap hotel. They just had to find one.

Without waiting for his animal, Cornflower set off in search of an inn, remembering the cat's clinginess, which he thought would find him even in the underworld.