Dowser Series: avoiding destiny

Putting together Chi Wen’s bio this afternoon, I found this great scene with Chi Wen (and Warner) from Dowser 4. Note: the first use of the title, dragon slayer. And, of course, Jade assumes the far seer is referring to the newly awoken Warner. Poor, poor Jade, little does she know …

Warner stepped out of the portal behind me just as Chi Wen the far seer wandered into the room.

Ah, damn. I’d been trying to avoid destiny today.

Chi Wen, the eldest of the guardians, appeared to be an ancient Chinese gentleman. He loved to smile. As in, constantly. I wasn’t sure he was capable of any other expression. All gray hair and wrinkles, he came up to my collarbone, though he wasn’t particularly wizened. 

As best as I’d guessed, he wielded oracle and telepathic powers. The oracle magic was like calling 911, except he was the only operator sifting through visions of disasters and pending worldwide destruction. He then tasked these imminent catastrophes to various guardians depending on their particular power sets. I wasn’t completely sure about the telepathic part, but I was fairly certain he could at least communicate with the other guardians without vocalizing his thoughts. Which was probably a good thing, because I rarely understood a word that came out of his mouth. And that had nothing to do with his heavy accent.

Chi Wen grinned at me like I was his own child safely home from the demonic wars … and in his mind, maybe I was. I curtsied with much more reverence and grace than I had for Suanmi.

I always tried to clear my mind in the far seer’s presence, but today I found myself repeating Please don’t touch me, please don’t read me in my head. The far seer scared me way more than any of the other guardians. Sure, they could all end my very existence with a single glance. But Chi Wen could show me my future, and that was utterly terrifying. Completely soul shaking.

Warner stepped up beside me. He wasn’t a stand-just-behind-my-shoulder-person like Kett, or even Kandy. With him being a mighty dragon — with obvious prejudices against my heritage — I was surprised he didn’t stride completely past me.

“Hello, dragon slayer,” Chi Wen called cheerfully as he shuffled toward us.

Warner cranked his head to look at me, actually taking a step away as he did so.

“Don’t look at me,” I said. “The far seer was obviously addressing you.”

“Yes,” Chi Wen said agreeably. “Every blade needs a solid hilt.”

Err … yeah, I had no idea what that meant. But I kept my mouth shut and tried to not flinch when Chi Wen patted my shoulder as he passed.

As he touched me, I suddenly realized I was drowning — and had been drowning for some time — surrounded by crushing water. I started to panic, to thrash, to die — but then I broke the surface, my mouth full of salty water and the warm sun on my face.

I gasped for air, realizing I was in the nexus — that I’d never left — as I filled my lungs with as much oxygen as they could hold.

Chi Wen was gone. 

Warner was looking at me like I was a ticking time bomb.

“What?” I asked, as snarky as I could be to cover my near drowning in the middle of a waterless chamber.

“What did the far seer show you?” Warner asked.

Well, that was a rude question.

– Shadows, Maps and Other Ancient Magic (Dowser 4)

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