Lan Wangji walked through the dusty, bustling streets of Yiling, staying close to his brother, as he had been instructed. It was his first trip outside of Gusu, and he found the noise and overwhelming mix of scents assaulting his developing dragon senses so different from the peace and austerity of the Cloud Recesses. For centuries, they had isolated themselves within their own territory, isolating themselves in meditation, music, and knowledge, letting the other clans fight over land, silk, and gold.
But the encroachment of the Wen on their territory had changed things.
The Lan had remained out of it until it was brought inside Gusu territory a month ago. The Wen encroached further, the dead from their battles being sent downriver to form a waterborne abyss.
Dragons had strong ties to the water, and the Lan were no exception. The waterways within their territory were considered sacred. Whether the Wen were aware of this and had intentionally provoked them, or if it had been sheer carelessness on their part would remain to be seen.
Their announcement of their plans to attend the Discussion Conference in the neutral village of Yiling had sent shockwaves through the other major Clans. The Conference had been called to allow warring clans to discuss possible ceasefires and to hear other territory disputes, like those of the Lan. It would be his clan's first time attending, and the news that the dragons had come down from their mountain had spread like wildfire throughout the land.
Generally, a dragon as young as him would not be allowed outside the boundaries of the Cloud Recesses, the secluded and heavily warded home of their clan. Lan Wangji's dragon powers were still sealed, a necessary condition for dragon-human hybrids with strong dragon blood in them until their bodies were strong enough to handle the full force of their powers.
The immortal-blooded members of other clans weren't hindered in such a way, their bodies and powers developing in synchrony. But dragons were the most powerful of all divine beasts, and when the white dragon Lan An had taken human form to mate with a mortal, he had both blessed and cursed the descendants that followed him with the power of his blood.
It was a blessing in that direct blood members of the Lan clan were inhumanly strong and long-lived. Magic was imbued into every cell of their bodies, making them impervious to most spells. Their lifespans extended for centuries, and their sense of sight and sound were far beyond most others.
But--as with all gifts--there was a price. As unstoppable as an adult inner-circle Lan was, as children, they were uniquely vulnerable. Human bodies were frail, and would be incinerated by the power that ran through their dragon blood if it were unleashed at too young an age. Their bodies grew slowly, slowly acclimating to the muted dragon magic in their system, making them look much younger than they actually were as their bones, sinew, and skin slowly absorbed the trickle of dragon power cell by cell until it was strong enough to handle the full force of it.
Unlocking the dragon powers too soon was deadly, if it could be achieved at all.. Only one clan member had ever managed to do it and survive, the immortal dragon Lan Yi. She ended up being nearly as powerful as Lan An himself, more full dragon than hybrid. There were rumors that she had done it to save her mate, but her story was sealed from the archives to prevent others from attempting it and ending up killed.
The second weakness came down to mates. Since Lan An had been an alpha, and the dragon blood was dominant, most of the blooded Lan clan members were alphas. This meant they had to look outside the clan for potential mates, but finding an omega capable of carrying a dragon-blooded child was exceptionally rare. The keen sense of smell that the dragons possessed was able to sense the nature of the magical blood a creature possessed, and assess potential compatibility. The more powerful the dragon blood that ran in a Lan clan member's veins, the less likely they were to ever find a compatible mate.
As the other clans diluted their immortal blood with many offspring, and interbreeding with no thought to how well the other party would be able to absorb or support the immortal blood magic within them, the Lan bloodline remained powerful and pure.
The Wen and the Jin clans in particular scattered offspring around like rice, producing a mass of loosely related members, but most of them barely having more powers than a fully human cultivator. Still, they used their sheer numbers to take more and more land from those around them.
If it weren't for their exceptionally long lifespans, the Lan Clan would have been in danger of dying out. As it was, Lan Wangji and his brother were the first blooded members to have been born in over three centuries, but their mother had not survived the strain of bearing two dragons.
If it weren't for the Fortune Teller's proclamation that Lan Wangji would ascend to be the most powerful ruler of the Dragon Throne since Lan An, he would have remained behind, safely ensconced behind the impenetrable walls of the Cloud Recesses. But he was within a decade or two of coming into his powers (a very short time in the life of a Lan), and if the Fortune Teller's prediction came true, he would be the one presiding over whatever agreement was reached in the conference, as dragons determined leadership by the relative ranking of power.
The Fortune Teller was adamant that this journey would be critical for Lan Wangji's full potential to be reached. Begrudgingly, the elders agreed he would be allowed to observe, but he was to be constantly guarded by one of his clansmen. As an extra precaution, they dressed him in the robes of a lesser clansman, in the hopes of further drawing any attention away from his presence.
They had arrived in Yiling only an hour ago. Lan Guards had been sent to the Inn they had booked to ensure there were no traps or assassins, and Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen (who had come into his full powers only a year ago) had been given permission to explore the marketplace near the inn, with their own guards in attendance.
Lan Wangji felt eyes follow him as he and his brother walked the narrow streets. He was aware of the power thrumming deep within his body, carefully locked away behind the seal that kept him from accessing it before he had developed full control. Only another dragon would be able to sense it. His clan had dressed him as a human guard. For all outsiders, he would appear to be an apprentice guard serving his Inner Circle member.
Lan Wangji was perfectly comfortable with that. He had no desire to compete with his brother. He would be happy to follow in his footsteps and stand by his side. His brother had been a full three decades older than Lan Zhan when he had finally been able to access the seeds of divinity that were sewn into his core, and Lan Xichen had been one of the youngest ever to do so, a prodigy of the Lan clan. Once he had finished his training, he would take over the leadership of the Clan until Lan Wangji came into his powers.
The Fortune Teller had been adamant that Lan Wangji would learn things on this excursion that would shape not just his future but ensure the safety of the entire Lan bloodline. So he looked around him dutifully, taking in his surroundings, ready for whatever Lesson he was supposed to learn to commence.
As they walked through the marketplace, he felt overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the throngs of people pressed around him that his nose very clearly identified as not compatible . Back home, everyone who lived there had at least some dragon blood in them, the soothing, clean notes of snowy pine and petrichor were what he was used to encountering, with other notes layered on top to varying degrees.
He couldn't even identify half the scent around him, other than to be able to tell that they were all of significantly weaker blood than even the lowest member of his clan. He understood then what his instructor had meant when he said that most dragons would never encounter someone they felt was a suitable mate.
He was not concerned. Few members of his clan were even theoretically interested in taking mates, and even fewer ever ended up actually taking one. Lan Wangji was more interested in the study of music, calligraphy, and spiritual meditation.
The barrage of smells wasn't the only assault to his senses. Back home, there were no loud voices, no abrupt laughter, no angry shouts. There were no other children, except those who came to visit and study at the school, but they were always kept in the outer ring of Cloud Recesses, and Lan Wangji did not interact with them.
He was shocked, therefore, when he passed a group of children dressed in brightly colored clothes, many of which were tattered and dirty. Where were their guardians, to allow them to roam without supervision, and in such a state? One child in particular drew his dragon's interest. While most of the people they had encountered in Yiling had the same dull, nearly-powerless aura around them--denoting regular mortal blood--one of the children playing almost glowed with a warm, chaotic energy that was completely different to the cold, blue-white energy of his clansmen.
He could not detect much scent from him, so likely the boy was still unpresented. It was strange, though, that he could not scent the other's magic, when the boy so clearly possessed quite a bit of it.
Lan Wangji's steps slowed as he tried to make sense of what the children were doing. Surely, if children were gathered in a group in the middle of the day, it should be for some sort of lesson. But there were no books, no instruments, and - he glanced around - no instructor.
They were simply playing some sort of game, the rules of which were not entirely apparent, but seemed to involve a hollow gourd that was being used as a ball, a lot of shrieking, running and sometimes tackling each other. The boy that drew his attention looked perhaps twelve or thirteen years old, a year or two younger than Lan Zhan's physical form would indicate, if Lan Zhan were a regular human. The boy moved with a fluid energy and acrobatic grace that Lan Zhan had never seen.
The other children didn't seem to notice anything different about him, and Lan Wangji assumed this was yet another of his dragon abilities beginning to show through. Dragons were immune to illusions, and could see through most disguises. From the texts his uncle had had him read, they were the only Clan to possess this ability.
Who was this boy? What was he?
His hair was tied in a messy ponytail, held up by a ratty, red ribbon. There was something about the energy of his movements and the quicksilver eyes that made it impossible for Lan Zhan to look away. The boy's laughter rang bright like a bell through the dusty streets, his movements fluid and effortlessly nimble as he ducked and - at one point - did a backflip out of the reach of another child. Lan Zhan glanced around the marketplace, and found his eyes were not the only ones following the boy. Several of the vendors from their carts looked on with amused tolerance of the noise, but none of them appeared to find anything unusual about him.
For the first time in his life, Lan Wangji subconsciously found himself reaching for his sealed dragon powers, wanting to let his dragon senses out just a little bit more to see what he could learn about the boy.
Abruptly, the boy paused in his play, his head snapping up and his eyes locked on Lan Wangji. He looked startled, as though Lan Wangji was somehow the interesting one between the two of them. Which was ridiculous, since Lan Wangji was simply standing there, staring, perfectly silent and still in the middle of the street with his elder brother. He turned to ask his brother what he made of the boy, and drew a sharp breath at the realization that he was - in fact - not next to his brother. His brother must not have noticed him pausing and was nowhere in sight.
Now that he had broken free of his trance, he could hear some sort of commotion further down in the marketplace. There were cultivators fighting, and the Lan guards had moved to get between him and a potential threat, leaving him currently out of sight of his guards. The boy had left the game and was moving towards him, his eyes shifting to look behind Lan Wangji.
He felt movement behind him and realized belatedly that this had been an intentional distraction.
"Move!" the boy shouted at him frantically, charging towards him.
Lan Wangji didn't know why he listened, but he did, stepping aside and spinning just in time to see a dagger slice down where his back had been.
"Mind your own business, gutter filth!" one of the assailants snarled at the boy before lunging at Lan Wangji with a short sword.
"Make me, Mo Fan!" the boy snarked back, moving at a speed that made it clear he had been holding back in the game he'd been playing with the other children. It also became clear that--unlike Lan Wangji--the boy was used to getting into street fights.
The Lan's sword fighting forms were clean and elegantly powerful, a form of meditation in motion. The boy fought dirty, throwing dirt in the face of a group of would-be attackers, jumping and spinning and kicking in a way meant to be effective rather than meditative.
Lan Wangji dodged the attacks of the civilians, easily predicting their movements. They were unskilled, individually, but he and the boy were severely outnumbered. His clan was used to living alone on the top of their mountain, and had no practice in this type of dishonorable attack. His brother and the guards were distracted by the cultivators that they believed to be the actual threat, a ploy that Lan Wangji admitted should not have worked as easily as it had.
His brother would likely realize shortly that something was amiss, but there was a good chance it would be too late. It would already have been too late if the boy had not intervened when he had. There were simply too many blades and ropes and swords to defend against with just himself and an unarmed boy, even if that boy was clearly more than human.
The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than the boy did… something. The air around them pulsed and hazed red. Their attackers stood still as though momentarily frozen, looking dazed.
"C'mon! Let's go!" the boy said, grabbing his hand (no one back home would have dared to touch him without permission) and pulling Lan Wangji down a narrow alley, away from the market.
The coiled energy deep within Lan Wangji pulsed as he felt the boy's hand pressed directly against his, a resonance that nearly made him stumble. Every part of a dragon was imbued with its magic, and skin contact was avoided outside of one's family or mate. If a dragon's magic rejected the person, direct contact with it would damage them, freezing or burning the flesh, possibly even killing them.
The boy did not seem to notice anything as they ran, just gripping Lan Wangji's hand tighter as they put distance between their attackers. Unfortunately, it was also putting distance between Lan Wangji's brother and his guards.
"Holy shit!" the boy said, laughing in a way that sounded like a mix of adrenaline and fear. "Why was Mo Fan and his gang of low rate assholes trying to kill you? You're just a kid! Usually they go more into kidnappings if they're dealing with defenseless kids, but they looked like they were just trying to kill you flat out."
"I'm not defenseless ," Lan Wangji bit out as he glared at the boy.
They turned a tight corner into another alleyway, and the boy rolled his eyes, a gesture that Lan Wangji had never seen before but immediately identified as 'rude'.
"Yeah, ok. You would have been shanked in the back if I hadn't called out to you, but whatever. I mean... I guess you can handle your sword pretty well, but you fight like you're in some sort of art exhibition. When you get into a real fight, you can't worry about looking so pretty. You've gotta fight dirty. "
Lan Wangji bristled at the implication that his Clan's fighting style was just for show, and he tugged his hand free from the insolent boy's grip. Even without access to his full powers, Lan Wangji was strong. He could easily have taken at least five swordsmen if attacked properly. He simply hadn't expected to be mobbed by civilians who fought without honor.
He ignored the way the magic inside him lunged at the seal, as though wanting to break through and follow whatever blood magic it was inside the other boy. He forced himself to respond to the boy's statement instead even as they continued to run, zigzagging through the narrow back alleyways.
"We have an entire section of the library dedicated to varying sword styles. We have developed counters for each one. Our methods are effective."
The boy pulled up to a stop, panting hard. This close, Lan Wangji could get traces of the boy's scent. It was unlike anything he had ever come across. It was warm, like sunlight, and bold, like cinnabar… so different from the cold, snowy-pine and petrichor scents of his clan. There was a rich note to it that reminded him of some of the food stalls they had passed in the market, the bowls filled with frighteningly red food that did not look edible at all. There was a hint of something floral, but not like any of the flowers that grew in Lan Wangji's mountain home.
Unlike the scents of everyone else Lan Wangji had encountered since they had descended from their mountain, this boy's scent did not repel the dragon within him. Instead, his dragon senses were trying to memorize and absorb it.
Still, smelling good didn't make the boy's words any less rude or annoying. The youth put his hands on his hips, giving Lan Wangji a mocking look that no one in the Cloud Recesses would ever dare do.
"You would be bleeding out on the ground if I hadn't jumped in! How the fuck is that effective ? Not every fight is going to begin with them announcing their intent to attack. Strength can only get you so far. Look at me! I'm not nearly as strong as you, physically, but I got us out of there."
Lan Wangji was shocked at the boy's coarse language. Cursing was forbidden in the Cloud Recesses, especially cursing in front of anyone of the direct bloodline. He intensified his glare at the blatant disrespect, which was normally enough to cause most people to back down, or at least avert their gaze.
The boy just threw his head back and laughed delightedly.
"You're so cute when you glare like that! Look, you're clearly from one of the rich families. But if you want to stay safe, you need to learn how to fight for real, not based on theory alone. Real fights come with surprises. And you're not always going to be fighting other trained young masters with fancy swords and fancy robes. If you want to learn how to defend yourself, you need someone to actually fight with." The boy tilted his head to the side, grinning cockily at him. "My name is Wei Ying. I could teach you how to fight dirty, if you want."
"Ridiculous," Lan Wangji said, his pride still stinging. He was older than this boy, and much more powerful. Or, at least, he would be. Soon. If anyone was going to do the protecting, it was going to be Lan Wangji. "When I come into my abilities, it won't matter."
Wei Ying opened his mouth to reply, or maybe ask a question, but the sounds of voices coming closer reached their ears.
" You IDIOTS! How could you let the child get away! We had everything arranged!"
"We almost had him! It was that stupid street kid, A-Ying, that intervened."
"This isn't the first time it's happened! You were supposed to have gotten the Mayor's daughter on her walk the other week, and you fucked it up and blamed your failure on him then, too. He's a CHILD! You should be able to handle him."
"He's not a child! He's a teenager and clearly some sort of immortal's spawn, based on what he just did in the marketplace. You didn't see it! I don't know how he escaped the notice of the Clans for so long. But we'll handle him. I know where he sleeps. He won't interfere with us again. One of our men stayed behind to tell the guards he was the one behind the attack."
Lan Wangji's anger flared unfamiliarly deep and strong as Wei Ying went still beside him. The people chasing them had no honor. It was one thing to attack an enemy. But to lie and not take responsibility? One of the deepest ingrained elements of a white dragon was a sense of righteousness. Lying was forbidden, but especially lies that put someone else in danger.
His sense of smell seemed to be becoming more acute, as he could sense the fear coming off the boy beside him. He realized that, while he was in town only for a few days, heavily guarded, Wei Ying lived in Yiling, and had been recognized by the group of dishonorable men who had attacked them. Lan Wangji suddenly understood what a huge risk the boy had taken to help him, without anyone asking him to, without any thought for his own safety.
Irresponsible, he thought, though the guilt ate at him.
He hoped the boy had a family to protect him. The thought sat uncomfortably inside Lan Wangji. A voice within him whispered that Lan Wangji should be the one to protect Wei Ying. Wei Ying had put himself at risk to protect Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji could bring him back to the Cloud Recesses, to his family.
Lan Wangji could keep Wei Ying safe. He could… Keep Wei Ying.
"Wangji! ? Wangji, where are you?" His enhanced dragon hearing picked up his brother's frantic voice, further away but approaching much more rapidly than their attackers.
There was no sound of anyone looking for Wei Ying, which further caused Lan Wangji's protective instincts to surge. Wei Ying was not being properly cared for. Not the way Lan Wangji would. Once Lan Wangji came into his powers, he would ensure that no one could harm Wei Ying.
"My brother is searching for me," Lan Wangji said. "I need to return to him. Our guards will be with him. The group following us will not dare attack in their presence. I will protect Wei Ying."
Wei Ying frowned, looking up and down the alleyway, as though weighing his options.
"Yeah. It looked like they were waiting until you were alone. They usually don't go up against anyone who can fight back. But there's no way to get back to the marketplace without going through them."
He could hear the voices growing louder. One of the Lan guards had captured some of the men who had attacked them, demanding to know where Lan Wangji was. Based on their desperate explanations, they were trying to blame Wei Ying. Judging by the boy's grim expression, he was able to hear it as well. Lan Wangji wondered, again, what kind of creature the boy was.
"Ok. It sounds like they've divided into three groups, and one of them just ran into your family. We'll head that way, but we have to stay clear of the others until we get there. Think of the scariest person in your family. Get a really clear image of them in your head."
Lan Wangji was about to argue, when the sound of running feet from the next alley over reached him. He drew his sword, but did what Wei Ying asked and imagined his uncle when he had first learned about the waterborne abyss. The boy put a hand to Lan Wangji's brow, barely brushing it before Lan Wangji flinched back away from the touch. The Lan forehead ribbon was sacred, never to be touched by an outsider. It helped keep their dragon blood under control.
"Ooh! Good one! Yeah, he looks really crabby. Ok, let's do this! I've been wanting to practice my illusions more, anyway."
Lan Wangji did not have a chance to reprimand him for talking behind his uncle's back, or to ask how he had been able to see the image inside of Lan Wangji's mind. The air around them shimmered, and Lan Wangji looked over to see the boy still standing next to him, though carrying himself with more correct posture. There was an odd haze around him that looked like the general shape of an adult, but he couldn't see anything more than that. It certainly didn't look like his uncle.
Hopefully they would be able to deal with the smaller group of enemies, now that they had divided themselves.
A group of about twelve men with swords and knives turned the corner, their angry expressions morphing into ones of fear as they looked at them.
"Y-Your Excellency!" The man who was carrying one of the better-looking swords stepped forward and bowed clumsily to Wei Ying. "We - we heard that your nephew was missing. One of the street kids was seen pulling him down into an alley. But don't worry, we'll take care of him for you!"
Lan Wangji was glad that his face was so thick, so none of the surprise showed through. Evidently, Wei Ying's illusion magic was better than he had given him credit for. While Lan Wangji was able to see right through it (literally), these men could not. They bowed as Wei Ying pulled Lan Wangji's hand, walking past them without speaking. Lan Wangji wondered if the boy's ability to create illusions was limited to the visual. Of course Wei Ying had never heard his uncle speak, so it could simply be that he did not know what voice to make.
One of the men, Mo Fan, lifted his head to eye them suspiciously. Likely wondering why Lan Wangji wasn't ratting them out.
He decided he would do his part in keeping up their charade.
"Shufu. Brother is almost here. We should go meet him. There was a large group involved."
"Hm," Wei Ying replied, in a voice that sounded deeper than his own.
The men exchanged nervous glances, then began slipping away, clearly hoping to escape before they were caught. Lan Wangji was not concerned. He had their scent, as would the guards and his brother.
They would all be dead by nightfall.
The Lan did not attack unprovoked, but--once roused--their dragon blood was unstoppable. Beside him, Wei Ying began to tremble and the image began to flicker. Fortunately, the word seemed to have spread that the attack had failed and Lan Wangji was protected. The attackers were fleeing in a futile attempt to avoid the wrath of the Lan clan.
"Fuck. I'm not going to be able to hold it," Wei Ying said as he stumbled. "It's harder to do someone I don't know. The details keep shifting."
Lan Wangji caught him before he could fall.
"Brother is almost here," Lan Wangji said, leaning down about to scoop Wei Ying up and carry him the rest of the way, despite his usual aversion to touching others. It was odd that he did not feel it when it came to Wei Ying, when even his own family refrained from touch.
Wei Ying waved him off. "I'm good. They're gone. Let me catch my breath here. You go let your brother know you're ok. You can come back for me when you've found him."
Lan Wangji hesitated, but he could tell that no one was close by. His instincts were telling him to ignore the boy's words and simply pick him up and bring him to safety, but his training had enforced that physical contact was not permitted, particularly when the other party said no. He told himself that he would only be gone for a minute, then he would bring Brother and they would protect Wei Ying.
Wei Ying had known the names of at least some of the men, possibly even where they lived or who they worked with. That would make it even easier. Decision made, he ran off to find his brother.
When he returned with his brother less than two minutes later, Wei Ying was gone.
They searched for him as they rounded up every last member of the group who had attacked them. Several of them tried to blame Wei Ying for trying to 'kidnap' the dragon heir, saying that they were only trying to rescue Lan Wangji from him, but dragons had a way of forcing the truth, especially from weak-minded mortals. None of the men knew who had hired them, only that Mo Fang had promised them money. Mo Fan and three others were found dead before the Lan could track them.
Both Brother and Uncle agreed they were likely killed by the men who had hired them, leaving it unclear which Clan (or Clans) were behind the assassination attempt.
As night fell, a fire broke out in a small, old shed on the outskirts of town. Instinct pulled Lan Wangji there, taking his brother and guards with him. The building had already collapsed, except for one side of it. The scent that marked the edge of the building had Lan Wangji's blood running cold.
Wei Ying.
The shed had no windows, and only one door. The door had a large branch wedged in a way that would have made it impossible to open from the inside.
Wei Ying had been weak and exhausted from holding the unfamiliar illusion spell for so long. He must have returned to his home to get his things, maybe to rest. His enemies had said they knew where he slept. His scent was so strong around the building, it was clear that this had been his home. Maybe he was still inside?
Lan Wangji lunged for the door, heedless of the raging fire that burned.
"Wangji, no!"
His brother's arms were holding him back. His brother was stronger, able to wield his dragon powers. Lan Wangji would not be able to break free, would not be able to get to Wei Ying.
Unless.
He closed his eyes, the dragon inside him lunging against the seal that had restrained it since his birth.
"Wangji. Stop! It will kill you!"
"If anyone is inside, they're already dead, young master," one of the Lan guards said. "The fire's too far gone."
Lan Wangji ignored the words as they washed over him. He had to try to save Wei Ying. He could not just stand by and watch him burn, when the only reason the boy with the bright, cheerful smile and warm scent was even in danger was because he had saved Lan Wangji. Power unlike anything he'd ever felt surged through him.
He would find Wei Ying. Or he would rid the world of the people who had taken Wei Ying from him.