Emily's House (The Akasha Chronicles)

by Wright, Natalie

  “I don’t know Madame Wong. Honestly, I’m not sure I can kill someone – even someone as bad as Dughall.”

  “Even if it were necessary to save the ones you love?”

  A scream pierced the air, breaking the icy silence that defined the Netherworld. A high-pitched scream that was familiar but also seemed like it was from a long-forgotten dream.

  Fanny.

  34. The Three Little Ninjas

  I ran from the training room and out into the mist and fog. Another scream and a shout.

  “Help! Emily, we’re here!”

  Jake. I ran toward the voices as fast as my legs would take me. Then it occurred to me to stop running and just think about being where they were.

  Out of the mist and fog another building came into view. It was a small cottage, much like Madame Wong’s only slightly larger. I stormed through the door, the Sword of the Order still in my hand.

  Inside it was dark like night, the only light coming from the grey haze of the Netherworld through the small window openings covered with carved wooden screens. In a corner of the large open room I had stepped into were Jake and Fanny, their hands bound behind them. They were lashed together with a thick rope, and their feet too were bound tightly.

  “Emily, look out!” screamed Jake.

  It was a good thing he warned me. I had been thrown off my guard, and I was not focused and aware like Madame Wong had taught me. With Jake’s warning I sprung to the air and did a back flip so that I could see my attacker.

  Attackers! There were three small men, dressed in black from head to toe, all three brandishing large, curved broadswords like the ones Madame Wong had said were for brutes. The three little ninjas. They turned to face me as I gently landed on the wooden floor. I planted my feet, right foot in front, left behind. I held my sword horizontally in front of me, my left hand up and vertical in front of my face. Focus. Breathe.

  They all lunged for me at once, charging like bulls, their swords swinging wildly as they screamed their warrior cries. I felt the blade coming before I could see or hear it, like the movement of the swinging disrupted the molecules in the air around me. I thought only of my blade connecting with theirs, and my arm swung powerfully in a large arc. There was the loud crash of steel as the Sword of the Order swung true and hit the first blade.

  The man wielding it looked down in shock as he saw that my sword had cut clean through his thick broadsword. But he was a trained fighter, not a novice. It took him a matter of seconds to recover and grab another sword that he had strapped to his back.

  In the meantime, my arm swung like it was a machine, connecting time after time with the blows coming from the three men. I lifted myself gracefully into the air and came down behind them. As one of the ninjas came at me, I thrust forward and dashed to the side so quickly that I cut his arm clean off. He screamed in agony but then vanished from the scene entirely, his cries of pain lingered even after the sight of his body was gone.

  There was no time to think about it. The other two didn’t miss a beat as they both came at me at once. I swung left and right, parried and turned. I took to the air, but they followed right behind, our blades connecting the whole time. There were sparks flying, ignited by the steel grinding on steel.

  As we touched the ground, one to the left of me, the other on the right, I swung my arm in a tight figure eight like I’d seen Madame Wong do, fending off the attempts of each of the ninjas to do me in. I sensed the one on my left was ready to thrust hard. I pitched myself straight up like I was shot from a cannon.

  I looked down, and the one ninja’s thrust landed straight in the heart of the other as the second ninja’s sword, which has already been in the motion of a wide arc intended for me, swung clear through the torso of the first ninja. Both vanished even as the sound of their anguished cries lingered.

  Then there was silence. My chest still heaved from the exhaustion of the battle with the three ninjas. But there was no time to waste; I had to get Jake and Fanny out of their bindings.

  “That was amazing!” Fanny said. I looked at Jake who was speechless, but his clear blue eyes showed their appreciation and awe.

  “I didn’t know you could fight like that,” he finally said.

  “I didn’t know either,” I said as I cut the ropes around his wrists with my sword. When his hands were free, Jake caught my hand with his. He looked in my eyes with a look I’d never seen before. His hand was warm and as he held my hand in his I felt a slight tingle run up my spine. Time was frozen for a moment as I let Jake keep his hand there, the first true warmth I’d felt in so, so long.

  But the moment was cut short by the sound of a large, low voice.

  “You’re not finished here Youngling,” he said. Instantly Jake’s hands were once again bound together.

  I turned and there before me was a large man, standing at least six feet three. His upper body was bare, his barrel chest smooth and rippling with muscle. His biceps were two of the most powerful guns I’d ever seen, his stomach a washboard. His dark hair was tied behind him in a smooth tail, his chin covered in a well-groomed goatee. His black eyes glared at me as he stood with his legs spread wide, his sword in his hand.

  I hadn’t finished getting Jake and Fanny out of their bindings, but that would have to wait. It occurred to me at that moment that I was going to have to keep fighting until I finished what I came here for.

  I had to keep fighting until I killed.

  35. The Killing Time

  The supersized ninja stood firmly, a devilish smirk smeared across his face.

  “They’ll be tied up here forever you know. If you want to save them, you’ve got to go through me. And from the looks of you, still a whelp sucking at your momma’s tit, you’ll give up, and I’ll take immense pleasure in killing them just because I can.”

  I didn’t wait to take my stance or focus myself. His words had their desired effect. I was enraged and shot through the air straight at him.

  “My. . . mother. . . is. . . dead. . . you tart monkey,” I said as our swords clashed. My arms were already tired from fighting the three amigos, but I had to keep going. I wasn’t sure if Jake and Fanny were real or not but either way I couldn’t stand by and just let this guy murder them. Somehow I got my arm to swing the sword, more defensive than offensive. It was all I could do to keep supersize from cutting me in half. I was so unbalanced by his strength that I didn’t have a chance to land any blows against him.

  I took to the air and bounced from wall to wall, trying to give my arm a rest while I avoided his attack. Everywhere I landed, he was there. It was like he anticipated my every move.

  Then I began running across the walls. I know it sounds impossible, but I was like an insect defying gravity using the walls of that cottage like a floor. I wondered to myself what would happen if I ran really fast and I thought only of making myself move so fast I was a blur to him. After a few seconds, I took a chance and looked at supersize. He had dropped to the center of the room, standing on the floor, looking at me. Or trying to look at me and find out where I was exactly. Somehow I was moving so fast I was a blur to him, winking in and out of the room altogether.

  I didn’t have a plan and wasn’t sure why I felt the need to run. But I had unhinged him a bit so I guess that was as valid a reason as any.

  “Get down here and fight like a man,” he grumped at me.

  “Ah, but I’m not a man you douche. I want to fight like a woman,” I said as I swooped down from the wall and struck him with my sword across his back. I quickly flew back up to my wall and continued my running in circles around the room.

  Supersize only grimaced, then shrugged off the large gash across his back, blood dripping from the slash across his naked back.

  “Women are cowards then,” he said as he ran up the wall and just planted himself firmly like a fly on the wall, hoping I guess to stop me in my tracks. When I saw him there, I simply reversed direction so that I again came at him from the back, this time thrusting my
sword into his back.

  “Smart, not cowardly,” I said.

  I had hoped that my strategy would do him in for good. Problem with my plan was that the Sword of the Order got stuck in his large, thick torso. I tried to thrust and pull but as I pulled, the sword stayed, and I fell backwards and dropped to the ground with a thud.

  Supersize just stood for a minute, his feet defying gravity, stuck to the wall like a fly on flypaper. Then he gently swooped down to the ground facing me, his face taut with rage. He reached his left hand behind him and pulled the Sword of the Order out of his own back, his face showing only the slightest twinge of pain as he did it. Blood now gushed from the deep puncture wound, but I noticed that the other wound I’d inflicted only minutes ago was almost healed. I guess I wasn’t the only one for whom the Netherworld provided some protection from injury.

  “Beautiful weapon,” he said as he held the Sword of the Order in his left hand, inspecting it while he still held his own large broadsword in his right. “I will enjoy killing you with it,” he said. Then he swung both weapons in small arcs in front of him.

  Supersize had two weapons, I had none. My surge of hope when I was the human fly on the wall was dashed. How can I kill a man if I have no weapon? No time to think about it. Supersize was coming at me with both swords blazing. Time to make like a cricket and leap.

  I sprung through the air in time to miss being chopped like tuna at a sushi bar but not before he landed a gash across my thigh. I felt the warmth of my blood trickle down my leg. I knew it would stop soon, but it still hurt like blue blazes. I didn’t know what to do with no weapon so I took to running again until I could figure something out.

  Supersize wasn’t going to let me just run in circles anymore. He took to the air and leapt from wall to wall, occasionally finding purchase, and I’d get a new gash here or a slice there. I knew there were phenomenal healing powers in the Netherworld, but I intuitively knew that if I got injured badly enough, my death would come before I had the chance to heal.

  Then I heard a familiar voice come from what seemed like a long way away. Jake yelled out, “Emily! Over there.” It seemed like it came from a dream. I turned my head to where Jake and Fanny were tied up, and I saw Jake pointing to the corner opposite from where they were bound.

  There, by the fireplace, a poker. It wasn’t the Sword of the Order, but it was something. No time to be choosy.

  I ran over and down the wall, picked up the poker and then went back to running like a mad thing around that room. We were both moving so fast, we were blinking in and out. I’d see supersize in front of me, then as I approached I’d thrust, but he as gone. Occasionally I’d get a slash in on him, or he’d get a gash in on me, but mostly we were just running and flying around like idiots.

  I was getting so tired I thought I’d drop. This had to end.

  I glided down to the floor, beckoning him to join me. Sweat poured in rivulets down my back and between what little chest I had. My hair was soaked, and wisps of it clung to my face and neck.

  When supersize landed I could see that our hours of fighting had slowed him too. His bare torso was completely slick, covered in sweat, his well-muscled chest heaving. If it weren’t for the fact that he was trying to kill me, he would have looked hot. But it was no time for a crush. I had to kill this guy so I could free Fan and Jake.

  As supersize caught his breathe, I planted my feet like I’d learned from Madame Wong. I held the poker firmly in both hands out in front of me, ready for his offense. I took a long, deep breath in, closing my eyes, and focusing. Aware. Alert. I felt the molecules in the air shift, heard the sound of his blades swirling and opened my eyes. Acting on instinct alone, I let my arms do what they knew how to do. I trusted my body to protect itself and just went with the flow, my arms moving independent of my conscious thought, fending off blow after blow.

  Finally, the moment had come. I felt it before I saw it. His guard was down for the smallest fraction of a second, and I swung the poker in an upper cut that caught his chin, took him off balance and down he went. As his hulking frame fall backwards, the Sword of the Order flew out of his weaker left hand and slid across the floor.

  I willed my body to do several front flips over to where the sword had landed. I scooped it up before supersize could reach it. I leapt to the air and came down behind him, planted again and ready. Now that the Sword was back in my hand, I felt a renewed energy course through my body. As I brought the sword out in front of me, clasped in both hands, I could hear it sing.

  Supersize took to the air and so did I. No running away from him this time. I leapt for him before he could gain speed and blink out of sight. My sword caught his hand and his broadsword went flying. I didn’t waste a single moment as I began hacking at him with my sword as he tried to run away. But I was on his tail and moving at the same rate that he was.

  I did a flying somersault over him and landed in his path. Before he could even see me, I swung my sword low, taking his right leg off below the knee and sending him down to the floor, a river of blood flying in the air around him.

  I knew that wouldn’t do it. In this place of mystery and magical healing, I knew that if I left him there, he’d just grow a new limb in a few minutes. Time to do what I’d been sent there to do.

  I landed beside him and tried not to look into his eyes as I pulled my sword up high, ready to thrust it deep into his heart. His coal black eyes were not filled with hatred or sadness. They did not plead with me to spare him. He looked into my eyes with the eyes of a true warrior, knowing that he was bested and ready to accept his fate.

  It was a small gift that I knew Dughall wouldn't give me if it were he that lay there on the floor. But I was glad of it as I thrust hard, swift and true. The Sword of the Order sang out as it struck Super-size in the heart. He didn't say a word or make a sound, but soon he began to vanish. His eyes held mine to the last second.

  As he vanished, the Sword of the Order vanished too, swept right out of my hand and back to the aether from where it came. My body ached as it had never ached before. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to be in my own bed in my own house and sleep the sleep of the dead. But a recess of my brain remembered that Jake and Fan were tied up, held against their will.

  I turned and ran to them, surprised my trembling and wobbly legs could still move. Super-size had bound them even tighter, and I didn't have the Sword of the Order to rip through the ropes. I began trying to untie them with my hands, the rough rope giving me burns.

  Jake caught my eye. "You were amazing," he said.

  "Yeah, thanks Em," said Fanny as I worked on the knots. Once I had Jake's hands free, he worked on the knots at his ankles while I worked Fan’s hands loose.

  When they were finally free they stood and stretched, happy to be free of bindings that had held them for an unknown amount of time. I couldn’t believe they were there. I didn’t want them to leave. For a moment, I forgot about my T.V. receptor and how it came on when I touched people. I just wanted to hug them both to me and hold onto them so they’d stay.

  With my arms stretched around them both the visions started at once. I saw a large explosion and Jake’s lifeless eyes looking up at me, his head covered in blood. I turned and saw Fanny’s leg sticking out of a pile of rubble.

  I took my arms out of the embrace and backed away so the horrible scene would get out of my head. As I stepped back, the vision vanished. Then Fanny and Jake vanished too.

  Tears instantly sprang to my eyes. Fanny. Jake. Gone.

  The walls around me dematerialized as well, and I found myself once again in Madame Wong’s meadow. The sound of the stream was so peaceful and comforting after what I’d just been through.

  Madame Wong sat in silent meditation, her eyes closed. She looked dead.

  Exhausted beyond reason, I flopped down hard and sat cross-legged, too tired to put my legs in a lotus position. I sat and breathed hard. It took several minutes before my breath became slow and smooth.

>   “Miss Emily succeeded?”

  “You know I did. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t killed him,” I said. She didn’t open her eyes or say a word, but her mouth put on a small smile.

  “Madame Wong, will it be time for me to leave soon – you know – to leave the Netherworld?”

  “Your lessons with Madame Wong almost complete but not finished yet. When done here you must go to next Master.”

  “I’ll have another teacher here? Who is it? Who will it be?”

  “Not Madame Wong’s place to tell you that. You must find teacher on your own.”

  “But Madame Wong, that means that soon – soon I’ll leave you?”

  “Yes, Miss Emily.”

  The thought of leaving Madame Wong mixed with the emotion of seeing Jake and Fanny, then seeing them die in my vision, and then seeing them vanish before my eyes brought a flood of tears.

  “There there Miss Emily,” she said as she gently hugged me. “You crying to leave Madame Wong? You miss my lessons, yes?”

  “I’ll miss you,” I said. “You have taught me so much. . .”

  “You taught yourself,” she said.

  “But Madame Wong, you don’t keep the past. For you, memories are like ghosts. I’ll be no more than another ghost that you lock away, won’t I?”

  “Memories not ghosts, Miss Emily. Just little birds. You’ll fly in, from time to time. I’ll say hi and then let you go. One of my little birds,” she said as she patted my hand and winked her eye at me.

  “Rest now, Miss Emily,” she said. “After sleep, last lesson.”

  I bowed to my teacher and crept into her cottage for what would be the last time that I slept there.

  36. The Darkest Woods

  I woke after sleeping the longest, soundest sleep I’d ever had. I went outside and there was Madame Wong, in the same place she’d been each day before, still as a statue in a perfect handstand. How long can she hold that pose?