She sighed, picked up the kettle and continued. “Zhudai, we now know, went south seven years ago and studied with a great warlock. He returned last year and the young Emperor immediately appointed him Grand Vizier in his court in Luoyang.” Zhi Hui paused, pouring them each a cup of green tea.”
Phoenix turned his cup, staring into its clear depths. “I knew it,” he muttered, “it’s always a Grand Vizier who’s the badguy.”
Zhi Hui cast him a faintly puzzled look before going on as though he hadn’t spoken. “Baiyu returned only a few months ago. That was when he first heard the rumours of Zhudai’s plans.”
“What plans?” Marcus prompted. Brynn sipped his tea and made a face at its hot bitterness.
“On the day of the ri shi, Zhudai will carry out his scheme. To complete it, he must kill my son at the precise moment of the full ri shi. If he succeeds, nothing will stop him from doing whatever he wishes - in both your world and this one,” Zhi Hui said bluntly.
Phoenix thought hard, wondering if everyone in this benighted world knew about his world and wishing for a less fuzzy brain. “Ri shi, that means…um…solar eclipse, doesn’t it?”
Zhi Hui bowed her head. “The eclipse co-incides with the last day of the Qingming festival of death and rebirth. Only on such a day: a day of death and life; a day where darkness overcomes light, will Zhudai be strong enough.”
“Strong enough to do what?” Brynn asked.
“Make himself immortal,” the old woman revealed.
There was long, weary silence as the three travellers considered this revelation. Brynn sipped noisily at his tea again, apparently unfazed.
Finally, Phoenix spoke. “Um….are we talking ‘immortal’ as in ‘unable to be killed’ or ‘immortal’ as in just ‘lives a really long time as long as nothing bad happens to him’?”
“Unable to be killed,” Zhi Hui nodded. “Invincible. Immortal. Evil. A sorcerer of unimaginable power. He will control vast armies of men. They will sweep across the world like a plague. He will be unstoppable.”
“Uh huh. Figures,” Phoenix shook his head. “So explain to me why nobody’s stopped him already. Y’know. One good shot with a bow and arrow would do it.”
“His powers protect him from ordinary weapons. The only man who could have stopped him now lies in the prison beneath the Emperor’s palace here in Xijing.”
“Wait,” Phoenix held up his hand. “Let me guess. That would be Long Baiyu.”
She bowed. “He is of the Light, as Zhudai is of the Darkness. Killing the Light at the moment when Darkness is strongest will upset the Balance and imbue incredible powers upon Zhudai. Held in the dark for so long, Baiyu is too weak to challenge his blood-brother.”
“So what does that have to do with us?” Phoenix interjected.
Zhi Hui pursed her wrinkled mouth and shot him a shrewd look. “Only when all contribute their firewood can a strong fire be built.”
He threw up his hands in disgust. “In Engli…unenlightened-people speak, please,”
With a shake of her grey head, the old woman tucked her hands into her wide sleeves. “Baiyu cannot defeat Zhudai alone any more. He will need your help, just as you will need his. You must release him. It is the only way you can save our land, your world – and yourselves.”
“And where does Jade fit into this?” Marcus’ low voice intruded.
“She is in the Palace as well,” Zhi Hui nodded. “She has been moved from the cells and is in a guest room on the second floor. She is in grave danger.”
The friends exchanged glances.
“Er..it doesn’t sound like she’s in danger if she’s in a guest room,” Brynn put in hesitantly.
She shook her head again. “She was safer in the dungeon. Now, she is too close to Zhudai. She falters. If you do not reach her soon, she will give in and all may be lost. When faced with an open treasure chest, even the virtuous man will be tempted.”
“Tempted? Give in?” Marcus sat up straighter, gripping his sword hilt. “To what?”
“Hope,” Zhi Hui said quietly. “She will give in to hope and all will be lost.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Back in her room, Jade sat on a low couch overlooking the garden far below and nibbled on her thumbnail. In one hand, she held her dagger, its two remaining gems gleaming like drops of blood. No-one had tried to prevent her from reclaiming it. Li Lei had even returned the small sheath Jade usually kept it in when it hung from her belt. Jade turned the blade over in her fingers, staring but not seeing it at all. She’d been told she couldn’t let Zhudai get his hands on her dagger or amulet, yet he’d had access to both and hadn’t taken them.
What should she do now? Zhudai’s proposition was ridiculous. He couldn’t possibly be able to send her and Phoenix back home. He was the bad guy. He wasn’t trying to help her. He couldn’t get them out.
Could he?
Doubt crept further into her mind, overshadowing everything she’d felt certain of before. Nothing about this world was real and yet here she was. She’d accepted that they were here…somehow. Why did she find it so hard to accept that there might be an easy way out? Just because all the fantasy books she’d read said there had to be a big finish to a Quest, didn’t mean there really had to be one. Who made up that rule? What if Zhudai wasn’t the badguy he’d been made out to be? What if he was actually capable of what he said? Why shouldn’t she just say ‘yes, send us home’? What would happen if she and Phoenix left now?
Jade grimaced, shaking her head. This was just a dumb computer game, not a real world. Nothing would happen. The game would just be over and she’d be home. She’d just been here so long she was forgetting that essential fact. She was over-analysing things again, just as her father always told her.
At the thought of her father Jade’s shoulders slumped. Her father must be absolutely frantic. She could almost see his anxious face, hair greying at the temples, worry lines creasing his forehead; almost hear his voice calling her name. A tear slid down her face. She wiped it away and licked it off her finger, tasting the salt.
If only there was some way she could consult with Phoenix, ask him what he thought of Zhudai’s proposal.
She sat up straight again, staring blindly at an ornate painting on the wall. What an idiot she was. Of course she could contact Phoenix. The mind-talk spell from the Svear spellbook. She’d used it over and over in India. She’d regained enough strength now. It should be a simple matter to contact Phoenix, tell him where she was and what Zhudai wanted. Then they could get this over and done with one way or the other.
Excitement brought hope back again. Beneath her breath, Jade whispered ‘heili tala’ and closed her eyes. Feeling the Binding Spell that attached her to her friends, Jade sent her mind drifting out along its tenuous, green connection, seeking them. In her mind’s eye, she floated through palace walls, over gardens and courtyards, heading west toward the great stone wall that enclosed the entire Royal Palace.
Reaching the wall, she pushed through it as she had the internal walls – only to be brought up short by an invisible barrier of some sort. The Binding Spell went straight through. She could feel it; sense Phoenix, Marcus and Brynn’s lives still connected to it. She pushed again and was, again, repelled. Once more, harder this time, she focussed on breaking through. Again she was denied; repulsed by a backlash of magic - this time all the way back to her own room and mind.
Half-stunned, Jade opened her eyes. It was no use. She knew the ‘feel’ of that spell. Zhudai had some sort of protective barrier up around the Palace that prevented her from reaching out to mind-talk with her friends. She remained alone.
A soft knock fell on the door and the panel slid open to admit Li Lei. The girl bowed deeply.
“I’m sorry to interrupt miss but the master has asked you to attend him again, if you are not busy.”
Jade hesitated. She really needed time to think; time to plan an escape; time to work out a way to get past Zhudai’s shield.
Li Le
i saw her indecision and bowed again. “The master asked me to tell you that he apologises for the inconvenience. He is aware that you tried to contact your friends. He forgot to warn you of his defensive walls. If you would like to reach them, he asked me to tell you he is happy to help you do so now. He will take down the barrier for you.”
Gaping in astonishment, Jade rose to her feet. “Are you saying he’ll let me talk with Phoenix?”
The girl bobbed her head, smiling. “He is waiting for you in his study. The defensive spells around the Palace are complex and can only be dropped partially or we will be vulnerable to attack. If you would like to speak with your friends, the master requests you come quickly.”
Jade shut her mouth with a snap and gathered the skirts of her robe in her hands. “Well…alright, I guess. Take me to him.”
The girl bowed and Jade followed her.
This time, Li Lei lead her on a much shorter path to a different room, just a few halls down from her own. When she opened the door, Jade walked straight in without hesitation; fear gone in her eagerness to contact the others. She barely noticed the sparse furnishings or the workbench covered in odd instruments and sealed jars.
The room was dark and window-less; lit only by a dozen lanterns hung from the walls and low ceiling. Zhudai sat at a desk, writing something with a small brush in elegant calligraphy on crackling, yellow paper. As Jade approached, he looked up with a faint smile. Nodding at a seat opposite, he took the paper between two fingers and blew gently on the ink. Looking at it critically, he nodded again and handed it to a small, deeply-bowing man who shuffled in and out of the room without a word.
“So much easier to use than bamboo and so much cheaper than silk.” Zhudai studied a blank sheet of paper curiously.
“What, paper?” Jade asked, confused.
“Yes,” Zhudai ran his fingers gently over the rough surface of the thick sheet under his hand. “One of our most brilliant scholars, Cai Lun, a eunuch at the Emperor’s court, invented it a few months ago. I have just had some delivered. The ingenuity of the human race never ceases to amaze me. Speaking of which,” he smiled again at her. “I believe you have a rather ingenious Binding Spell you use to connect to your friends.”
She eyed him, wondering where he was going with this. “Yes,” she admitted. “So what?”
He shook his head and shrugged. “Nothing, really. I am just impressed that it seems to work even through my defensive shields. I could feel it but I couldn’t tell what it was until you tried to use it a short while ago.”
“I couldn’t get through your barriers, though,” Jade pointed out.
Zhudai waved a long, languid hand. “Nevermind. Your Binding is quite remarkable, especially for a young, inexperienced Spellweaver. I really am most impressed. It would, however, take something much stronger to penetrate my defences, so I will help you.”
Jade flushed, trying to ignore the unexpected rush of pride that accompanied his words. “But why?” she wondered aloud. “Why should you want to help me contact Phoenix?”
“I told you,” the sorcerer raised his brows in mild surprise, “I’d like to help you go home. You can hardly make a decision like that on your own, can you? Of course you want to discuss the idea with your friends. The sooner the better. Shall we begin?”
She bit her lip uncertainly. She wanted to reach Phoenix but Zhudai must have a hidden agenda; he must mean to harm her or the others in some way. Surely though, she reasoned again, if he’d wanted to kill her he could have done it easily by now. She had only two lives left. Nothing could prevent him. Perhaps he really was trying to help them get home. He certainly didn’t seem like an ‘ultimate badguy’. There was no manic laughter or plans of world domination, anyway. The more she saw of him, the more she wondered if there had been some big mix-up in all this. Besides, he couldn’t hear her telepathy with Phoenix. Could he?
She would have to take the risk. This was too important for her to decide on her own. Phoenix had to be given the choice, too.
“Alright,” she agreed. “I’ll contact him.” Nervously, she scratched at the palm of her left hand.
*****
“So explain to me how you know where Jade is, in the Palace?” Phoenix demanded of Zhi Hui, suddenly suspicious of the old woman as she hurried them back to their room to gather their gear. She seemed very anxious for them to rush to her son’s rescue. Phoenix buckled on the last of his leather armour and faced her. He’d been burned once by a supposed ally. This time he needed a really good reason to trust.
“And maybe you could also explain how Baiyu contacted you, from inside the dungeon but Jade hasn’t reached us. How did he tell you to come and get us in the tomb yesterday? How do we know we can trust you? How do we know you’re not a spy from Zhudai, sent to trick us?”
The old lady grinned, busily rolling up their sleeping mats and stowing them in an ornately carved cupboard. “You cannot know, of course, and you are wise to ask such questions.”
“Maybe you’d be wise to answer them,” he growled, losing patience with this verbal cat-and-mouse game. He laid a hand on Blódbál, feeling its eagerness for battle course through his fingertips.
Zhi Hui sighed. “Still so much anger, young Phoenix. Great anger is more destructive than the sword. You must master that if you are to be free.”
“What?” He blinked at her, sidetracked by the change of subject.
“Nothing. You will understand, later,” she chuckled at his bewildered expression. “I’m a cleaning lady. That’s how I know where Jade is and how I can communicate with my son. Nobody pays attention to a harmless old cleaning lady. I come and go to the Palace as I like but I do not have access to the upper floors, where Jade is held. When I’m inside Zhudai’s defensive magic shields I can speak with Baiyu anytime.” She tapped the side of her head meaningfully.
“You mean he uses a mind-talk spell like Jade?” Brynn stretched out on a pile of cushions, hands linked behind his head, at home as usual.
“And are Zhudai’s shields the reason Jade has not been able to reach us the same way?” Marcus paused in his packing to ask.
“Yes and yes,” the old lady nodded, solemn once more. “The only way your Jade could bespeak you is if Zhudai dropped his defences, which he will never do, for it would make him far too vulnerable.”
Phoenix?
Phoenix spun, drawing Blódbál as he stared into the darker corners of the room, searching for the source of the voice.
Can you hear me, Phoenix?
Eyes widening in surprise, he nodded. He spoke aloud for the benefit of the others, finally realising that the words were inside his head, not outside.
“Jade? Is that you? Are you ok?”
Of course it is. Who else? I’m fine. I can only talk for a moment, so don’t interrupt.
Marcus, Brynn and Zhi Hui were all gazing at him in astonishment. Phoenix shrugged and tapped his head.
Zhudai has offered to help us get home. He’s partly dropped his shields so I can talk with you. He says he doesn’t want to kill us – he was just trying to stop us killing him. I… I think he means it. I think he really might be able to send us home without any more bloodshed.
“Are you insane?” Phoenix blurted, forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to interrupt. “Zhudai is the badguy; ultimate villain; corrupter of Roman governors; manipulator of gods and all that. Remember? Our Quest is to defeat him, not shake hands and say ‘we’re off now, thanks so much’.”
There was a sense of impatience, doubt and hope all intertwined. I know but what if we were wrong about that? What if we don’t have to have some big battle to get out of here? What if he can send us home? We were just following someone else’s orders to finish the game to get out. What if we were wrong? Isn’t it worth a try?
“Jade, you can’t be serious,” He struggled to keep calm. What the hell was going on in that mind of hers?
I’m tired of the fighting and killing, Phoenix. Surely if there’s a peaceful way to just ge
t home, we should take it. Her mind-voice sounded desperate.
“But how can we trust him?” Clenching his fists, he sought for patience. “Why should we believe him?”
I…I just do. He’s had every chance to kill me and he hasn’t. I’ve been treated like a VIP guest. I think he’s telling the truth.
“Based on what?” The words came out more sarcastically than he meant and Phoenix could feel her hurt reaction.
Don’t you trust me?
“You, yes. Zhudai, no,” he stated flatly.
Will you at least meet with him…us? In the square in front of the Palace in two hours. Just you. Leave Marcus and Brynn behind. They’re too emotionally tied up in trying to kill Zhudai. I have to go now. Please be there. For me?
Suddenly his head felt emptier. Phoenix screwed up his face. Feeling extremely uneasy, he faced his friends. “Somehow, I don’t think you’re going to like what she had to say.”
CHAPTER NINE
“It has to be a trap,” Marcus was calmly logical, as usual. “Don’t go.”
Phoenix scratched his scalp. “I know but what else can I do?”
He paced the small room restlessly. Zhi Hui perched on a small stool in one corner, watching. Marcus leaned against the doorframe, fingering the pointed tip of one of his arrows. Brynn busily hauled things out of the Hyllion Bagia and worked out what might be useful in rescuing Jade. There were two piles of trinkets, clothing, coins and weapons growing in front of him. He looked critically at a small Egyptian glass phial of blue liquid for a moment then placed it on one of the piles. A crystal prism went on the other pile. Finally, he began tucking things into his copious pockets. The rest he stowed in the cupboard with his sleeping roll.
Phoenix paused in his pacing, looking at the boy without really seeing him. “It’s probably our best chance of rescuing her, anyway. Even if we could disguise ourselves as workers and get in through the servants’ entrance with Zhi Hui, we don’t have any way of getting Jade and Baiyu out of a palace held by hundreds of guards and eunuchs. Worst of all, she may not even want to come with us. Getting her outside, in the open, is probably our only chance.”
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