The Yu Dragon

by Aiki Flinthart

  She raised troubled green eyes to his as they entered and he thought he had some idea: she felt guilty about Marcus’ death and was trying to show she would not again be influenced by the promise of finery and ease. He sighed internally. He’d never understand girls. Then he caught a quick, sidelong look from Xinyu and wished fervently that he did. He couldn’t speak. The breath caught in his throat. She was so beautiful.

  Beside him, Baiyu cleared his throat significantly. Phoenix jumped, flushed and hurried to sit. He chose the seat next to Xinyu and tried to think of something intelligent and witty to say.

  “Hi,” was what came out. He kicked himself mentally. C’mon, there had to be something cool he could tell her that would make her pay attention.

  Luckily, before he could make a complete fool of himself, a section of the wall slid open and servants began serving food. His stomach rumbled and he couldn’t help but see the tiny smile on Xinyu’s lips. Oh man. Now she thought he was a boorish barbarian. Glumly, he began to eat.

  “When you have eaten, you must sleep and regain your strength,” Mei-Lein’s cultured voice broke the long silence. “You have a difficult task in the morning. Defeating Zhudai will take all of your skill and power.”

  Jade laid down her chopsticks, biting her lip. “But how?” She sent a worried look at Zhi Hui and Baiyu. “How are we supposed to defeat him? We don’t have Blódbál, I’ve already proven I’m not strong enough to beat him with magic. I couldn’t even protect…” Her voice broke and she looked away.

  “Count not what is lost but what is left,” Zhi Hui patted her hand.

  Jade’s laugh had a hysterical tinge. “What, two people who have barely enough magic between us to cook a chicken, a warrior with no sword and a boy-thief. We don’t even have the Horn any more. Great. Now I’m reassured. We’ll win for certain. C’mon - we don’t have a hope of defeating Zhudai, and you know it.”

  An uneasy silence fell over the group. Phoenix picked at his food, trying not to believe Jade was right. He was almost angry at her for voicing what they had all, secretly, been thinking. Somehow, saying it aloud made it more real, more depressing. He suddenly felt young and inexperienced again in a room full of older adults.

  Baiyu’s calm voice intruded on his thoughts. “The question is not if you have failed, it is whether you are content with failure. There will be a way to defeat him.”

  “Ah ha!” Zhi Hui cackled. “I am glad to see you did listen to your old mother sometimes.”

  “Indeed, mother,” Baiyu replied, though his gaze was locked on Mei-Lien. “Although perhaps it has only been the last few years that I have understood much of what you said.”

  “Maybe you can translate for us then,” Phoenix murmured. Brynn grinned at him.

  Jade pushed abruptly back from the table. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I…. I’m tired and I … I need some time alone. Maybe we can plan in the morning. I’m going to bed.”

  Annoyed at Jade’s dramatics and a little worried about what she might do, Phoenix went to go after her as she hurried from the room. Xinyu laid a hand on his leg.

  “She is afraid she is not good enough; she misses her friend and her home. Do not be too hard on her.”

  “How do you know that?” Phoenix frowned at her.

  Xinyu cast a quick glance at her father. “My father has shared your story with me. I am sorry if I have offended. I only want to help.”

  “Oh…well, thanks,” he felt like a fool for being suspicious. “I’d..I’d better go see if I can calm her down and get her back here. We need her ideas.”

  Baiyu sighed and laid his hands on the table. “No, I think she has the right idea. We all need sleep. It will be morning soon enough. The ri shi is at midday. We will have time to make plans after breakfast.” He stood and reached down a hand to Mei-Lien. His expression was gentle. “Will you retire with me, my love?”

  Phoenix saw a fleeting look of what appeared to be guilt and worry as the woman took his hand and rose to leave with her lover. He stared thoughtfully after the couple for a moment then shrugged. They hadn’t seen each other for months and Mei-Lien had thought her lover was doomed. It was quite possible she had cheated on Baiyu and felt guilty about it. Whatever the reason, it was none of his business.

  He looked at Brynn. The boy drooped, half-asleep where he sat. “Xinyu, can you make sure Brynn gets to bed? I’ll check on Jade first.”

  “Of course,” the girl bowed and smiled sweetly at Phoenix. He tried hard to ignore a sudden thrill of delight. This was hardly the time.

  He pushed an annoying lock of hair back from his face as he walked through the halls toward Jade’s quarters. The sound of distant laughter and splashing told that Mei-Lien’s customers were still enjoying their night out. He envied them their lack of care, whoever they were. Sternly, he spoke to his tired, wandering thoughts. Right now, he somehow had to get inside Jade’s head and work out how to get her back on track. Man, where was Marcus when you needed him? Pushing the thought of his lost friend aside, he reached Jade’s quarters and hesitated outside, wondering what he could possibly say to comfort her.

  The door shot open. Jade’s hand reached out and grabbed him by the shirtfront. She hauled him inside and closed the door again. Her startling green eyes mere inches away, she glared at him intensely.

  “Someone in that room has betrayed us.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Wha…?” Phoenix staggered back as Jade released him. She began to pace the room. There were two sleeping mats unrolled on the floor with a small, hard, wooden pillow at the end of each. They looked hideously uncomfortable and made Phoenix briefly homesick for his feather pillow and cotton sheets.

  Jade continued to pace, frowning blackly. “Either Mei-Lien or Xinyu, I think. I couldn’t quite tell which one but one of them was feeling incredibly guilty about something; something to do with Baiyu and Zhudai.”

  He shook his head, trying to think straight through a haze of exhaustion. “Maybe Mei-Lien had something to do with Baiyu’s original capture and she feels bad about how long he’s been in prison. Maybe she’s had an affair while he’s been in there. Could be anything.”

  She gave him a scornful look. “You’re just saying that because you like Xinyu.”

  Phoenix swallowed a rush of annoyance and managed to keep his voice even. “No, actually I’m saying it because I saw her look guilty as they left the room. You can’t condemn someone just for feeling guilty. If you did,” he raised an eyebrow at her, “you’d really have to hate yourself, wouldn’t you? You’re always feeling guilty about all sorts of stuff that wasn’t really your fault.”

  Jade stopped in mid-step and stared at him, her green eyes wide with startled hurt and dawning understanding of something. Her mouth gaped open for a second as she looked completely through him into nothing.

  “Goodness,” she murmured, blinking. “I think I understand something Zhi Hui said to me in the baths.”

  “Is it another one of those cryptic sayings?” he asked uneasily.

  She smiled the first real smile he’d seen on her face for awhile. “A man must despise himself before others will. I thought she meant Zhudai – and she probably did – but maybe she meant me, too.”

  Phoenix kept quiet, not really knowing what to say to that. No-one despised her but she was too hard on herself.

  Eventually, she flapped her hands dismissively and resumed walking around the room. “Anyway, I’m sure there’s something going on with either Mei-Lien or Xinyu. I didn’t want to make plans in front of them, in case one of them was a spy.”

  “Is that was what that little scene was about?” he was annoyed. “You could have just mind-talked me.”

  Jade shook her head. “Baiyu might have heard and I don’t know if the others have magical abilities of any sort. I couldn’t risk it. We can’t afford to trust these people, Phoenix, we don’t even know them.”

  Phoenix sank to the floor, wishing for couches. “Look, let me fill you in on wh
o Baiyu is, at least.” Jade listened as he sketched out the encounters he’d had with the old Buddhist monk and with Zhi Hui. When he finished, she frowned and slid down the wall to sit beside him.

  “You can’t take their word for it. The monk was Baiyu’s friend and Zhi Hui is his mother, for goodness sake. Of course they would want us to save him.”

  “Don’t forget, though,” he reminded her, “Baiyu did know exactly who we were and how we got here. Who else would know that? Plus it was his mother who contacted us when we first came into the game and told us what to do. What would he have to gain by that?”

  “Zhudai knew who we were and by contacting us Zhi Hui got us to come here and release Baiyu, didn’t she? Baiyu had everything to gain by drawing us here but there’s no guarantee he can actually get us home,” she retorted acerbically. “I’m just not willing to trust so easily again. This is getting too complicated. It was easier when it was just the…four….of us.” Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “I miss him so much.”

  “Me too. We made a good team,” Phoenix sagged against the wall. “I don’t much like the way Zhi Hui and Baiyu make me feel like a kid again, either.”

  “I know what you mean. So what do you think we should do? About the others, I mean.” Jade rested her chin on her knees.

  He yawned. “Personally, I think you’re just picking up on ordinary relationship stuff between Mei-Lien and Baiyu. He’s the father of her daughter. She’s not going to betray him to Zhudai. We’re safe enough until morning. I vote we get some sleep.”

  Jade rubbed her face with the palms of her hands and yawned as well. “I’m sure there’s something wrong. I just can’t tell what. Maybe I’m a little hyper-sensitive about the whole ‘trust’ thing right now. You might be right. G’night then.”

  Phoenix struggled to his feet. “Hey, in the morning…”

  She looked up at him expectantly.

  “Whaddya think we go kick some badguy butt?” He finished with a grin.

  She gave him a worried little smile and nodded, obviously trying to appear blase. “I’ll have your people call mine and we’ll book it in for around midday. I hear Zhi Hui coming. Go away.”

  Phoenix found his room and collapsed gratefully onto the bed. It felt so good to lie down. He fell into sleep without even bothering to remove his clothing.

  Then, just as the first grey of dawn lightened the sky, he sat bolt upright on the hard bed, wide awake. Something was wrong. He could sense it. But what? Nearby, Brynn slumbered peacefully. The vast house was quiet and dark at last. So what had woken him with such a strong feeling of impending trouble?

  A faint noise reached his ears: near-silent footsteps on a wooden floor; the sliding of a door. He pulled out one of his throwing knives. Zhi Hui had thoughtfully requested her servants bring them. They were the only weapons they had left, apart from Brynn’s sling and dagger and Jade’s staff.

  “Phoenix! Brynn!” Xinyu’s faint whisper drifted into the room. “You must get up. Quickly. You have been betrayed. You must flee.” The Chinese girl’s dark shape moved against grey walls as she came to crouch beside Phoenix’s bed.

  “I’m awake,” he assured her. “What’s going on?”

  Xinyu opened the shutter on a dark lantern just a fraction, allowing a thin beam of golden light to escape. She bowed her head. “I am deeply ashamed. My mother has traded our safety for my fathers’ and yours. She sent a messenger to Zhudai. His men will be here within minutes. You and your friends must go now.”

  Phoenix sprang up with an angry growl. “Dammit! I should have listened to Jade. She suspected something was wrong and I didn’t believe her.”

  “Please,” Xinyu laid a delicate hand on his arm. “Do not blame my mother. She is just trying to protect me. Zhudai does not know I am Baiyu’s daughter. She knows she must keep me safe. If he did…” she shuddered and looked away.

  He pressed his lips together in scorn but he got it. “You’re right. We can’t waste time on blame, anyway. Go wake the others. I’ll wake Brynn and we’ll meet you at the back door.”

  “I can show you where the horses are but I can’t come with you,” Xinyu protested. “Zhudai would suspect. I must stay with my mother.”

  Phoenix nodded reluctantly and the Chinese girl slipped out.

  Several long, tense minutes later, a very worried-looking Jade and Zhi Hui joined them at the back door. Jade pushed open the door and peered out cautiously. She cast a listening spell but shook her head to indicate there was nothing out there yet. Phoenix nodded, looking back over his shoulder toward the interior of the house. Xinyu had not come.

  From the front of the house came the crashing, tearing sounds of the front door being broken down. Screams followed; men yelled, swords clashed and more timber splintered. The first faint flickerings of orange glowed as soldiers set fire to the building. The scent of smoke caught in the back of his throat.

  “We must go now,” Zhi Hui whispered. “Before they surround the house.”

  “But what about Xinyu and Baiyu?” Phoenix half-turned to go back inside. As he did, the noise of hurried footfalls brought them all to alert. Someone plunged around the corner, sliding on the wooden floor to collide with Phoenix. Instinctively, he grabbed and discovered Xinyu, soft in his arms. She smelled of smoke and blood.

  “Thankyou,” she panted, showing him a face wide-eyed with fear. “Zhudai’s men have taken my father.”

  He released her, taking a step back the way she’d come. “We have to get him. We can’t beat Zhudai without him!”

  The girl grabbed his arm. “No! There are too many men and Zhudai himself is coming. The house is burning. We must go, now. Our only hope is to keep you safe. My father will be kept alive until tomorrow. Please!”

  “But what about your mother?” Jade broke in. “Will she be alright?”

  Xinyu dropped her head, long hair spilling loose to her waist and hiding her face. “One of Zhudai’s men tried to kill my father when he resisted. My mother threw herself in the path of the sword to save him. She is dead. Zhudai will not keep his word now. He once loved her, too and it will not take him long to realise she was with his enemy; and who I am. I cannot be taken or he will have a tool to force my father to co-operate.” She raised stricken eyes to Phoenix’s. “Please. I have always known this day might come. It breaks my heart to leave him but we cannot save him now. We must go and find another way to stop Zhudai.”

  Phoenix glanced at Jade and Brynn. They both shrugged and nodded. He couldn’t see any other options, either, with few weapons and Jade still too weak to take on Zhudai. They were more likely to be able to help in some way if they regrouped and were not back in that dungeon.

  “OK,” he agreed reluctantly. “Take us to the horses. Then we need to find somewhere else to hide until midday.” Peering out into the grey morning light, he nodded the all clear and opened the door. Together the group slipped out, into the empty courtyard.

  “I must go see my servants are unharmed,” Zhi Hui whispered. With a nod, she scurried off, vanishing through a half-concealed exit in the brick walls which enclosed the courtyard.

  “The horses are this way,” Xinyu pointed in the opposite direction and took Phoenix’s hand. Just as they reached a low, arched doorway, it flew open and a dozen or so soldiers marched through. They wore the black and red bird insignia of Zhudai’s personal guard.

  “Oh man!” Phoenix muttered. Beside him, Jade took a tighter grip on her staff. Brynn snatched out his dagger and Xinyu raised her hands defensively. Phoenix glanced at her, wondering if she would be alright. He was answered almost immediately. One of the guards yelled something incomprehensible and ran at her. Her hands flashed, moving so quickly Phoenix couldn’t even see what she’d done. All he saw was the limp body of the guard fly past and sprawl on the hard earth beyond.

  “Sweet,” he admired, grinning at her.

  The Chinese girl sent him a small, shy smile.“We must take care of these quickly, before they send more men a
nd we are caught.”

  En masse, the rest of the guards ran at the small group. Phoenix had little time to admire Xinyu’s kung fu after that. He was too busy coping with the four men who decided to attack him all at once. Without Blódbál to cloud his mind with berserker bloodlust, Phoenix found himself a whole lot more clear-headed – and a whole lot more wary of jumping into battle. The first guard lunged, thrusting with an iron-tipped spear. Aikido training took over and Phoenix turned aside. He grabbed the wooden shaft and pulled its owner forward, overbalancing him. When the guard didn’t let go, Phoenix continued the motion – down…around… up and then sharply down again. Apparently too surprised to let go, the guard flipped upside down. His head hit the ground and he collapsed in an unconscious heap.

  Phoenix now had a spear in his possession. He flipped it over so the pointy end was in the right direction. Two guards, who had been about to pounce on him hesitated, eyeing the spear. Phoenix jabbed it at them. They flinched back. The third began to circle around, aiming to get behind him. Phoenix started to circle as well, trying to keep all three in sight. In the uncertain half-light of dawn, it would be easy to miss seeing an opponent. Easy and fatal.

  Somewhere, off to his left, Jade busily whacked anyone who came too close. Brynn had run out of stones for his sling but stayed beside her, holding the guards at bay with his little dagger. Xinyu had her back to both of them, engaged in hand to hand combat with two guards, her hands and feet a blur of motion. They seemed to be holding their own but Phoenix was desperately aware that it was only a matter of time before more guards arrived and they were outnumbered. Time to put an end to this.

  He stood up straight and threw the spear. He wasn’t great with a staff anyway. The guard he’d aimed at jumped aside, grinning. Confident now, the man ran forward, his companion close behind. The third again moved around behind.