Dao Divinity Book 1 Read online

As he sat thinking about the small victory, he enjoyed thinking about everything that heat could become. Smiling, he felt like some sort of wizard or superhero from fiction. He’d be more able to protect everybody now.

  Thinking about Sasha, his smile stilled as the depth of this transformation settled in on him. Based on Cherry’s theory, he would likely age either slower or not at all now that he’d started on a dao path. What did that mean for Sasha and him? Would it change anything for her?

  She was going to lose it when she found out, and he wasn’t sure what he could tell her at this point. Still happy, a bit of the excitement wore off as he settled in. He had a lot more to figure out.

  First, he needed to figure out what to do about his hands.

  ***

  Dar woke up slowly, his eyes feeling crusty and his head groggy.

  “--don’t know what to do with you.” Sasha sighed, her fingers going through Dar’s hair as she talked thinking he was still fast asleep.

  He relaxed and didn’t want to disturb her already feeling sleep call him again.

  “Stupid man, don’t you realize that I’m starting to love you. After you saving me like that how can I keep pretending I don’t?”

  She was silent for a moment. “It’ll break my heart when you die, but I think I can bear that for a man who’d do what you did.”

  Dar felt like he was hearing something he shouldn’t be, but he now knew how she felt. Sasha was guarding herself from the future pain of loss.

  Sleep tugged at him once again and he let himself go, drifting off to sleep again.

  When he woke, Sasha had replaced her thigh with a sack full of something soft. Pushing his head gently against it, he decided it must be clothing.

  Looking around for Sasha, he didn’t see her.

  Next on his priorities was water, his throat was parched, but he struck out on that end too. So instead, he watched the people working to catch up to what he might have missed while sleeping.

  Sitting up as he watched, he noticed a few fires burning. That set off warning bells to Dar, but when he looked up at the ceiling, the smoke wasn’t pooling. A crack or second exit above them must have been pulling the smoke out. He sighed, breathing a bit easier that they weren’t suffocating themselves.

  The villagers milled about the cavern, which was larger than he’d originally thought. It was maybe half a football field in depth.

  It was still a bit cramped for almost a hundred people camping, but that didn’t seem to stop them. Some groups laughed by the fires, some sharpened tools for future battles, some were trading goods and wares they’d brought from the village with others. The village’s social structure was unchanged; the only change was the settings and building.

  “You’re awake,” Sasha’s voice came from behind him, and he looked up at her with a smile.

  The witch’s blue eyes bore into him with concern as she knelt next to him.

  Dar could feel his heartbeat speed up as the witch visibly softened, like she was on the verge of crying.

  “It’s okay. We’ll get to the city and fix everything.” He tried to reassure her.

  “Mhmm,” she agreed with him and pulled over a pitcher to fill a small stone bowl with water. “Drink up—you are probably thirsty.”

  Dar took the bowl of water and drained it, but as much as he wanted to let Sasha take care of him, he also wanted to test out if he really had a dao now.

  That could change everything, he thought about what he’d overheard and a firm determination filled him.

  “Sasha, is there somewhere private we can go?” he asked, watching as the witch’s face blushed bright scarlet and her eyes widened at his question.

  “Oh, um, Dar, of course—after all, I owe you my life.” She looked away shyly.

  He did everything he could not to roll his eyes. “I have a surprise I want to show you. At least, I think I have a surprise, and it’s not something like what you’re thinking!”

  Stopping himself before he continued to babble like an idiot, he just waited for her response.

  Sasha calmed herself quickly and nodded sharply. “Sure. There’s an overhang not far from the cave mouth; I went there for a bit of solitude earlier.”

  Dar felt his heart ache, imagining the beautiful woman sitting alone and melancholy in the rain.

  “Let’s bring Cherry too. I think she’ll be helpful.”

  Sasha tilted her head in confusion. “I’m not sure Cherry can help much.”

  “Just trust me. There’s more to her than you think.”

  Sasha shrugged, clearly doubting it but not caring if Cherry joined. She leaned down, helping Dar to his feet and pointedly avoiding his bandaged hands.

  His hands still stung with every movement, but the pain wasn’t fresh like it had been at first. He wondered if he had destroyed most of the nerves in them by now as they wandered the cave.

  They found Cherry sitting by her tree, staring out towards the cave exit. The dryad gave him an appraising look. He was starting to get better at spotting the subtleties behind the bubbly facade.

  “Want a cherry?” She tilted her head, continuing to study him while she played it off as swaying in the breeze.

  “Sure.” Dar took a few of the sweet, red morsels. “But can you come with us? I have something to show you both.”

  The dryad frowned and looked back at her tree.

  Dar knew part of this was all an act, but he had a feeling there was something to her protectiveness of the tree. After all, she would have left that awful pub owner if she hadn’t been so tied to the tree.

  Sasha hadn’t seemed surprised by Cherry’s actions, and he knew the tree obsession was very real. She’d likely grown more independent over the years, but was still tied to it, like all spirits.

  Cherry stepped forward, rubbing her hand along the tree’s trunk and whispering a few words to it. Finally, she turned and glared at everybody around in silent threat before she turned to him and smiled, nodding that she was ready.

  Two of the village guards stood at the entrance to the cave and gave the three of them a questioning look before looking back out at the downpour.

  Water was coming down like curtains outside, and thunder boomed as lightning chased it across the sky. If they hadn’t found this cave, it would have been a disaster for the town.

  “We’ll be back shortly,” Sasha told the guards and steadied her hat before she rushed into the rain.

  Dar hurried after her, and in the minute it took to find the sheltered overhang she’d mentioned, he was completely soaked.

  Cherry stepped into the dry spot after them not seeming to care if she was wet or not. But as her loose fitted dress clung to her skin, he could see more detail than he should have now that it was wet.

  He tried to avert his gaze, but it was hard to look away. Cherry clearly didn’t believe in undergarments, and it showed as her nipples pebbled against the material.

  “So, what is the big surprise?” Sasha asked, wringing out the corners of her skirt.

  Feeling a bit of performance anxiety set in at the question, Dar paused. Maybe he should have tried this out on his own first, like with his inner world. But they were already here and waiting, and it wasn’t like he had a backup surprise that they’d buy. He just needed to get it together.

  Taking a deep breath, he centered himself. “Okay. Let’s give this a shot.” He picked up a wet stone in his bandaged hands and held it out for both of them to see before focusing on the rock.

  Not quite sure how it would work, Dar just followed his instincts. Heat was second nature to him now. He imagined the stone getting hot and glowing in his hand with heat.

  He waited, continuing to focus on it, and becoming more anxious the longer it went without anything happening.

  “Dar, what are you expecting to happen?” Sasha cut in, sympathy in her voice, which he knew shouldn’t annoy him, but it did. He could do this now! He knew it.

  He channeled that extra desire and static in the air into hi
s intention for the rock, again focusing on it heating. This time, as he did, the water on the rock began to evaporate with a sizzle, slowly becoming steam as it rose from the rock.

  He almost dropped it on instinct, not wanting to burn his hand further, but he realized that he didn’t feel any burn coming from it. Since his hands were injured, he did a double take to visually confirm his hands weren’t being wounded any further. They were totally fine.

  Beaming, he held it out further for Cherry and Sasha to study.

  The rock took on an orange hue as it ran out of water to wick off the heat, and Dar finally looked up at the witch and dryad, both staring at the rock in disbelief.

  Cherry’s hand wandered over, hovering above the rock to feel the heat coming off it. “Amazing.”

  Sasha, however, was looking at Dar’s hand. “Does it hurt?”

  He shook his head. “No, it’s like I don’t want to be burned, so the heat stays away from my hand and bandages.”

  Cherry stepped forward, her voice holding authority and control as she spoke. “Dar, you need to put the rock down and dismiss the heat. And you will never, I repeat never, let anyone know you can do this. Tell me you understand me.” Cherry looked to the side at Sasha, daring her to disagree with her.

  Sasha did a double take between the dryad and Dar, clearly thrown off by the change in Cherry, but before she could say anything, Dar jumped in.

  “Why? Dao isn’t uncommon in this world. And this is only a basic level.” He couldn’t figure out what had them so flustered.

  “Wizards,” they both answered in unison, as if it was the most obvious thing.

  He paused, waiting for more, but they seemed to think it was obvious. Wizards had come up in conversation before, but Sasha had never gone into detail. “Are you going to tell me more about these wizards and why they’d be so threatened by this?”

  Cherry looked to Sasha to explain.

  “Sure. But first you are going to explain what is going on. All that Cherry nonsense—it’s just an act? What the hell.” Sasha’s tone was firm before turning back to Dar. “And you knew.”

  “I didn’t mean to lie to you, but it was her secret, not mine,” he explained.

  Cherry held her hand up to stop Sasha. “I apologize for tricking you. I’m cautious by nature, and it is a defense mechanism. If a wizard or someone else tries to take advantage of me, it helps to catch them by surprise.”

  Sasha pursed her lips, clearly not liking being left out of the loop, but she eventually nodded in understanding.

  Since they seemed to still be on decent terms, Dar pivoted the conversation back to their concern. “Great, so… wizards, explain.”

  Cherry nodded. “Wizards are humans that desperately seek to step on their own dao path. However, I’ve never heard of one being successful. Instead, they collect enchanted items and used them to many effects.”

  Dar smiled, not sure why people who played with enchanted items should be so scary to the two powerful beauties.

  “Don’t breathe easy. They are very dangerous,” Sasha scolded him.

  “But if they don’t have their own dao, they are limited by the enchantments they have,” he said.

  The two girls in front of him shared a look before Sasha spoke. “Yes, but there are many enchanted items over the course of history. Some of these wizards will have weapons great enough to mimic grand dao.”

  Cherry continued, “The worst part is that they’ve become power hungry. Enchanted items can be taken. Wizards are highly intelligent and more than a little crafty, and that just makes them more dangerous. If they knew a human had found his own dao path, they would stop at nothing to capture you and understand it.”

  She paused, making sure it was sinking in before she continued. “Dar, you must understand. You stepping on your own dao path likely means you will be immortal, if not long lived. They would tear you apart piece by piece trying to figure out how you did it and replicate it for themselves.”

  That finally caught his attention. Being a test subject for eternity sounded horrendous. Suddenly living forever wasn’t quite as glamorous as it had been.

  A small gasp caught his attention, and he looked over to find Sasha’s eyes wide. “You won’t have a short life span,” she nearly whispered.

  He felt a little grin tug at the corner of his lips. “No, I don’t think I will.”

  Dar stood there, eyes locked with hers as she processed it. He enjoyed the sparkle of hope that flittered in her eyes now as she looked at him. For a moment, the world around them seemed to fade away, but she quickly diverted her eyes as a blush spread across her cheeks. But Dar had felt it. A spark had sizzled to life between them, and this time, she hadn’t immediately put it out.

  Sasha bit her lip, still staring off to the side with a small smile before collecting herself and fussing over her soaked dress. She was cute when she was flustered, he realized.

  “We need to make sure the wizards don’t realize you have a dao. You also need to know that both of us have to be careful in the city,” Cherry continued.

  “Careful, why?” he asked.

  Sasha came to his side and slipped her hand in his, the softness of her chest leaning into his shoulder. He tried not to overreact at the gesture, but it was a huge step for her. She had finally stated clear intentions outside of just their quiet time at night.

  He leaned down to peck her cheek, but she dodged a bit, an apology immediately forming in her eyes.

  “Give me a little more time,” she said softly. He squeezed her hand in acknowledgement, excited for where it may lead.

  Dar felt more than saw a flicker of sadness, melancholy from Cherry as she watched the two of them. It was gone as soon as it had started, and Cherry continued what she had been saying.

  “Wizards obviously want more enchantments. Especially powerful ones. We have those.”

  Dar cut her off. “They’ll force you?”

  Sasha nodded into his shoulder while Cherry gave a slow nod. “They will. There are spirits and demons that oversee large areas of the world. If the wizards do this openly and rampantly, they will be crushed. It has happened before.”

  “So, it will be a quiet kidnapping.”

  “Yes, or they’ll find a way to accuse us of breaking some law. The spirit that rules over this area is both powerful and fair. If one of us were arrested and found guilty, she wouldn’t blink about seeing us forced to work under a wizard. In that case, he could walk around openly with a spirit or demon as a servant, at least until he died and the offender was freed.”

  Dar clenched his jaw. With the trouble devils were causing, there was no reason to also be fighting amongst themselves. “That’s ridiculous. What about the devils? Why don’t the wizards focus on them?”

  “Devils are different. As far as I know, wizards haven’t harnessed their dao. It isn’t as if you could keep a troll on a leash, and I doubt one would give its oath to serve.”

  Getting lost in his thoughts, Sasha brought him back with a squeeze to his shoulder. He looked down into her inquisitive face, enjoying the warmth she now showed openly as she looked at him.

  “Okay. So I need to keep my dao under wraps, and I need to keep an eye on you two in the city. Could I pretend to be a wizard?”

  “Hmm. That’s not a bad idea.” Cherry tapped her lips thoughtfully. “But before that, there are things we must do. And I must admit I’m curious how you learned the dao of heat after fighting the hellhounds. You must be smarter than you look.”

  She teased him, but Dar could tell by the look in her eye that she’d connected the dots between the corpses she’d seen him take into his body and the new dao. There was curiosity and a glint of danger in her eye as she watched him.

  Luckily, Sasha broke the silence, oblivious to the moment. “It isn’t unusual for a demon to touch a dao after it was involved in a life-threatening moment with it. Dar must just have somehow touched on something similar.”

  “Right. That would make sense,”
Cherry said, still skeptical.

  It seemed silly to continue to play games with his only two allies in this world, and Dar was getting tired of all the half-truths and omissions. Deciding to just drop it on them and enjoy watching their faces, he casually muttered, “Could be. But I think instead I just absorbed their dao.”

  Both sets of eyes locked on him, shock radiating across their faces. He tried not to start laughing at how dumbfounded they both looked.

  “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not like it happened instantaneously. It took the large number with the same dao form.”

  Both began taking a step back as they watched him cautiously, and he hated the guard they’d both put up. “Guys, I would never harm either of you. For one, it would be stupid since I know nothing of this world, and you’ve been helping me. It’s also just not who I am—you have nothing to fear from me. Please believe that.”

  Sasha paused for a moment before relaxing and stepping forward to snuggle back into his arm.

  Cherry wasn’t quite so believing, her eyes still holding an edge of danger, like one wrong move and he’d find himself cut to pieces. “Interesting.”

  “Seriously. I’d never harm either of you. If I can take the dao of my enemies… I won’t say no.” His face was hard as he stared at Cherry.

  She watched him a moment longer, before nodding. “Good, I believe you.” She shot Sasha a glance. “You aren’t like the wizards. I just needed a minute to put my prejudices aside.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Oh, he needs to—” Sasha started suddenly realizing something, but vines pulled her off Dar and lifted her away, wrapping around her mouth.

  “Don’t. He isn’t a demon or a spirit. How he handles it might not be the same.” Cherry turned back to him. “While we are out here alone, we need you to push yourself to the limit with your heat dao. Just blast it into the rain. We’re actually lucky it’s here. Otherwise, you might start a huge fire.”

  He looked over to Sasha, who was still tangled up, but her look was enough confirmation. He should do as Cherry said.

  Holding out his hand, he focused on the heat dao, this time without an object. The air warped and rippled above his hand, and it was almost like he was holding an invisible fireball. He took a moment to appreciate how badass it felt.