by C. R. Jane
Master Wu walked a seven-point circle and activated the glyphs. They glowed red. “Get comfortable, girl. Time to get rid of distractions so you can focus.”
“When will I learn what it is I need to be doing?”
“Right now. Doing this.”
Oh. I sat in a lotus position, getting as comfortable as I could sitting on alien soil in a magic ring while I breathed myself into a weapon for these men.
“You worry too much on things you can’t control, Xiulan,” Hayato said. “I have already seen you manifest a phoenix. You can do what they ask of you. Think of it as saving the world.
“Well, if we destroy a horde of monsters, I think that is literally saving the world.”
Hayato sat by my side. I studied his profile, at how his long hair gently floated in the air. “If you want to ask me a question, I suggest you do so now before the killing begins.”
“How do you do that? Know what I want to say before I say them?”
Hayato smiled. “Well something tells me that you won’t believe me when I say magic, so let’s go with habit. You worry a lot so you have a habit of asking a ton of questions.”
“Ugh, why do you put up with me?” I complained. I clapped a palm over my month. There I go again, asking questions. Seriously, how does he put up with me.
Laughing, Hayato said, “Because you’re my sister, that’s why. That is the only reason I need.”
I was humbled by that. “I will follow you into the mouth of hell, you know that?” I said.
“I’d hope that I’d do a better job navigating us away from hell.”
We both laughed even as the temple guards approached. They looked as ready as they’ll ever be. “Hey guys, are you all warmed up and ready to go?”
They nodded. “Yes, there’s just one last thing we need.”
“And what’s that?”
“A kiss.”
Hayato surge to his feet his sword at Li’s next. “I would hate to have to kill the person who saved my life.”
“Relax, it’s not like that. Just a little kiss to get the bond starting.”
“You don’t need a kiss for that, just a flesh exchange. A simple handshake would make that happen.”
“We all know that the more intimate the flesh exchange, the stronger the bonds.”
Lightning seemed to gather around the men. “Say ‘intimate’ referring to my sister again, and I start cutting parts of your body.”
I stood up. “Okay, let’s calm down. It’s not like they’re suggesting anything inappropriate. Just a kiss to get our bonds started so I can transfer their energies about. Doesn’t sound too egregious, Hayato.”
Li smirked up at my brother who glowered in response.
“Okay, who’s first?” I asked. I couldn’t wait to see his reaction.
Li’s face lit up. “That would be me!”
I stuck my hand out to him, which he took. Then he looked curiously at me. “You said a kiss,” I said. “You may kiss my hand.”
He laughed and his entire face lit up. “You are exactly what we need,” he said, before planting a kiss on the back of my hand.
One after the other the rest took their turn.
I had meant it to be innocent, but with each one, I got more and more breathless. I sat down heavily, trying to get back to that moment of clear focus again.
Master Wu snorted, muttering something about youth under his breath.
The five temple priests fanned out in front of our circle that held Hayato, Master Wu, and me. “Shouldn’t they be inside of the circle, Master Wu?”
“Not for what they want to do, child. Now focus and be in tune with your spirit.”
I wanted to say something else, but the image of the monsters flashed in my mind. That was right. I had to be reminded of what it was that I wanted to get rid of.
So, as I breathed and counted backward from ten to gain my focal point, the men started rustling about. I peeked through my eyelids and they were shirtless. Each and every one of them had vibrant tattoos of dancing dragons all over their skin.
One minute, they were men, and the next shadows and lightning seemed to ripple and flow over them until five dragons flew into the air.
I pushed my sense of wonder and joy out to them so they all knew how amazing I thought their display of magic was.
One day, I shall teach you, my queen.
That voice inside of my head. It had the feel of Li in there, though I was totally guessing. How is this possible? I asked him.
Magic.
I gave an unladylike snort.
Master Wu tsked. “Focus, Xiulan.”
I coughed primly even as Hayato laughed at me, too. I focused on the counts of my breath, in and out. The longer I sat here, the more I was able to see threads sparkle and glow in my mind’s eye.
And from one breath to the next, the night exploded with dragon fire.
Unearthly cries and howls answered the assault. My heart bloomed, feeling like they are doing exactly what they needed to get done.
“They’re doing it, Xiulan. Keep your eyes closed if you need to, but know that they are doing it. The monsters are dying even as they are leaving their hive.”
This made me feel so good. This was exactly what I wanted. This kind of work, where something that I could do made a unique impact.
A rumbling started beneath us. I tried to maintain my concentration, but clods of earth exploded around us, destroying one of the glyphs.
“Run!” Master Wu shouted.
Hayato dragged me up just as the ground where our circle had been collapsed down into a sinkhole. We ran as fast as we could but we were losing ground faster than we could run across it.
Fear swelled in my heart, knowing that the monsters would overrun us soon.
A dragon swooped down plucked some of the monsters in our path and bowled them into their brethren.
Another dragon carried all three of us up from the valley just as the ground crumbled away completely.
What I stared at chilled me to the core. This wasn’t just a network of tunnels. This was literally a hive that was seeping and expanding into this world. They were all clustered together like insects--like roaches--and for a moment they stood transfixed in their respective honeycomb hive.
The next second, the monsters moved as one to exit hell and push their way through into Earth.
Li the dragon pumped his wings faster just so we could get in front of the horde.
We would need huge protective circles to be effective against all these monsters, and circles that large would take time. Master Wu’s seven-point circle took a few minutes just by itself.
“I’m sorry Master Wu, I didn’t mean to be a failure.”
“You’re not a failure child. You have raw power that hasn’t even been tested yet. I will do everything I can to train you. Trust me. We just need to survive the night, and trust our instincts.”
Chapter 6
The few minutes’ head start was all that we needed to get far enough away from the monsters to regroup. Zhang was the first to find a clearing and start walking his protective circle. The others joined as they landed and shifted from dragon back to human form.
Li dropped us off first in what would have been the middle of the circle before landing last. He shifted as he walked into the circle.
Zhang just had enough time to throw down his last sigil when the monsters caught up to us and threw themselves on the circle. They rebounded off the shields spectacularly.
“Whoa,” I said. “How did you do that?”
“I was counting on them to try to use brute force to get to us. Good thing they don’t understand mechanics.” Zhang smiled, rolling his shoulders as if it had been a physical fight.
What did I know, though? Maybe there were physical implications even in a magical battle.
“Magic is about balance, Your Majesty,” Li started. “And knowing that physical rules still apply when you run headlong into a barrier, whether that barrier is an auric s
hield or a brick wall. You run into a brick wall, you’re gonna bounce back with the same force you slammed into it.”
Of course, that made sense. It was just the idea of metaphysical or magical forces that was hard for me to wrap my head around.
I tucked that away for further knowledge.
While Li had been educating me, Zhang had taken the opportunity to create another shield circle outside of the one already made while Sora made a ring of protective sigils on the inside of the circle.
Sora met my questioning gaze as he did so. “It’s best to get as much of these up as we can, while we have the room.”
He was right, of course, because the next moment, the legion of monsters swarmed around our little circle of light.
Some ventured off toward the temple and sniffed around the shields there. The outer wards charged and then released arcs of lightning at the few that were within firing distance.
At least the temple was safe for now, but all these monsters from the deeps would cause lasting damage even with just one night. They were easily multiplied, and if unleashed, they would be unstoppable. Easily taking over the valley and possibly beyond.
The thought of these creatures ruling this world chilled me to the core.
Master Wu was arranging his spell-casting as well, and I felt like I was being useless. “Master Wu, what should I do? I feel like I need to do something.”
He looked at me with his ancient wisdom and smiled despite the desperate hour. “It is exactly when you feel the need to do something that you should do nothing.”
What?! The countryside will soon be overrun with ravening creatures and he wants me to do nothing?
I said as much, trying to make my tone of voice as respectful as possible.
Instead of answering me, he commanded me to sit.
And so, I sat.
“Concentrate on finding your inner self and spirit. You have done well focus the energies of others. Now you must find and channel your own.”
“But—”
He snapped his fingers. “Find your spirit.” He didn’t seem to be open to anymore argument from me.
Without another word, he took an ancient text with elaborate sigils on it and hurled it at a leaping monster. Ribbons of inky blackness wrapped around the fiend, seemingly swallowing it up and any other monster that happened to touch it as well.
Five monsters gone with one page.
Damn.
Master Wu snapped his finger at me. “Your spirit!”
I swallowed a grumble, and allowed myself to find that fire inside of me. What I had always called my dragon spirit.
Something like an oily blackness spilled over the other monsters. It was something that looked like it was wearing a human’s skin and animating it. And then I saw the gold seal of the Imperial court hanging from its neck. It was the magician, or rather the magician’s body. It had been taken over by the Yaomo, the demon he had called up long ago.
That creepy story had been real.
Yaomo’s expressions through the broken flesh of the magician was more frightening than anything else I’d seem. He still carried the magician’s seal around his neck—a gold disc with an emblem of protection.
The fact that he wore it was an irony that I couldn’t overlook. Whatever intentions the magician had, he had been working under the orders of his general, who was now the emperor. Housing a demon was not a fate I would wish on anyone.
If it was the last thing I did, I would destroy that Yaomo. First, I’d need to get rid of all these monsters.
The monsters swiped at the sigils of protection almost as quickly as the men were able to create them. Yaomo spurred on the monsters, spitting out a string of guttural sounds that I could only guess were commands.
He was the type of leader that led from behind. Coward.
Every now and again, Master Wu would throw spells into the fray and take out dozens of monsters. It was an endless sea of them, yet we were trying to contain them here, with their attention on us.
Hopefully, with Yaomo directing their attention on us, they would be compelled to stay here and not find their way into the rest of the world.
The layers of shields were weakening. I tried my best to redirect the power flow between the guards but it was still not enough.
There were simply too many monsters willing to sacrifice themselves. Every time they hit the shield, it was like a psychic blow.
At this rate, we wouldn’t last past dawn. Though the monsters retreated during the day, the sun would still be too weak until well past dawn.
They had plenty of reserves while ours were being drained.
Find your spirit.
If Master Wu said I needed to find my spirit, then it should be findable.
One of the guards, Reo, dropped completely tapped out.
Kaito and Sora would be next.
Something peeked over the mountains. And though it looked like the fiery rays of the sun.
Hope bloomed inside of me, and with it, there was a familiar spark that I had been looking for all along. I nurtured this dim light, fed it the rage and injustice I felt at seeing the guards weakening, at the demon’s lust for more power, at the conspiracy theory that the Imperial Court knew about this valley but kept it secret.
All of these things and more, I fed to this dim light and with a final push of my power, all that I had to give, I opened myself to the spirit that had been inside of me all along.
Heat coursed through my veins, igniting every part of me, down to the molecule.
It was as if I was everywhere at once, seeing everything at once. I was the people huddled in the temple. I was the men who were determined to protect me with their lives. I was in the sky, seeing the monsters flowing up from the deeps.
In that one still moment, I found peace and contentment that I had finally seen what I knew to be true all along. My spirit, bright and soaring, unbound by the restriction of others.
I let the tears stream down my face and realized how freeing it was to let go. I didn’t need to control it, I just needed to direct my will and trust it would be used as needed.
“I surrender,” I whispered.
The Monster’s face twisted with glee when he heard my words. My guard, connected to me as they were now, trusted me even though my words confused them.
It didn’t matter. The words were more for me than for anyone else anyway.
I raised my arms in the air, and from my palms, brilliant light unfurled.
What started as a wicking flame became an expanding fireball.
The nearest ring of monsters was incinerated by the flames I produced. It gave the guard more time to layer ring upon ring of protective sigils and glyphs. I focused my will again, drawing on a reserve of energy that I hadn’t known was available to me.
This time, I let the fireball expand and take shape before releasing it. It grew in size and shape until it became a phoenix in truth. Its wings spread across the valley, casting light into the foul darkness. Fire rained down from the phoenix’s mouth, scorching all it touched until only ash remained.
I conjured up another phoenix. And then another. I didn’t stop until I shivered with cold. Despite the heat I unleashed, my fingers felt like ice and I couldn’t feel my feet.
“Enough, Xiulan.” Hayato’s voice called to me as if from some great distance.
I didn’t know how to stop. The monsters still shrieked in the distance and I needed to make sure that as many of them that were able to surface were destroyed. The army of phoenixes lit up the night sky as they poured white hot fire down upon the monsters until wave after wave of flames rolled like an ocean tide along the valley.
A touch more intimate than I have ever known seemed to touch straight into my soul.
My queen. You can stop. You have done enough. Li’s voice echoed inside of me.
How are you doing this? I asked him softly, afraid I was shouting.
I didn’t know how, but I felt him smile at me. You can speak as you norm
ally would, and I will teach you more later. But for now, please rest. You have done enough.
I-I don’t know how to stop. I’ve let go and surrendered to my spirit.
That’s good. That’s what you need to keep going. But now it’s time for your spirit to be renewed in your flesh. Spirit and body need each other, no matter what certain monks will teach you.
I didn’t know what monks taught, so I wasn’t in on his joke. But I discovered that I desperately wanted to be.
I don’t know how. I admitted to him.
Let me help you. Trust me.
I do.
As soon as I said it, warmth flowed inside me. This was comforting and it felt like I was being carried. I opened my eyes and I was held in Li’s arms. I shivered against him and he crushed me even more against his body, draping.
I could feel my fingers and toes again. Even my nose had been cold. I nuzzled it against his neck; he didn’t complain.
“What now,” I asked. My voice croaked as if I’d been dehydrated for years.
“Now, you rest.” He pressed a kiss against my forehead, and it was like I was covered in a cocoon of blankets.
I only realized now, after I was no longer numb, that I was fraying in a way, and my energy was gushing out of me. Here in Li’s arms, I could almost feel the auric wounds I’d inflicted on myself knit together.
The cracks that had formed in the auric shield that placed around us sizzled with lightning as the cracks merged together once more before disappearing. They lit up like miniature fireworks each time, and I gasped at the sight.
“How did you do that?” I said in awe.
“Like I said, my queen. We will have time enough for your education.”
I was too tired to correct him. He really shouldn’t be calling me queen. That would be disrespectful, but a part of me glowed at the thought, so I indulged in it.
Besides, what would it hurt? It wasn’t like I was claiming the Imperial City as my own.
The phoenixes were still setting fire to the valley, but I could see that they were expending themselves to do it.
