Eternal

by Grant, Alasdair

  Bingmayong. Everywhere. They’ve invaded our quiet walled campus. Some carry Scythian horn bows while others wield steel-tipped halberds and spears. Most are supplied with tasseled longswords and wear iron-studded leather vests.

  Master Yao stands in the grassy area in front of the Pagoda of Reason, an imperial official beside him. Master Yao swings a copper hand bell that is so tarnished its surface has turned brown. Its hollow tone vibrates over and over again reverberating through my skull. He keeps swinging until his arm grows so weary he’s finally forced to dangle the bell at his side.

  Students are still spilling from the pagodas, laughing at first but quickly falling silent. We’ve all experienced bingmayong. It’s never a comfortable experience. But the sight of so many fills us with frosty fear. The academy’s occupants pack themselves together, creating as much space as possible between the automatons and themselves. In the frantic press, I’m pushed away from Lily. When I try to wriggle back, a hand closes painfully around my bicep and pulls me farther away.

  “Ni hao, Jade. Our paths cross again.”

  Opal. What does she want? I don’t have time for this.

  Something sharp presses into my back. It’s at a spot just behind my kidney. I stiffen in surprise.

  “You have something I want,” Opal hisses in my ear. “Something important. Tell me where you’ve hidden it.”

  “I don’t know what you—”

  I stop speaking as the sharp objects jabs into my flesh, immediately followed by a warm trickle of blood.

  “Don’t play stupid,” Opal whispers. “I know you have it.”

  Opal! It was her in the bathing hall!

  “I know you’ve read the codex,” she says, “and learned its secrets. You wouldn’t still be alive if you hadn’t.”

  Weishan Village’s bespectacled official noisily clears his throat. He’s having difficulty getting the frightened students and faculty to quiet down, which means no one sees what’s happening to me.

  “You’ve found the secret,” Opal snarls. “You’ve created the elixir of life, and now I want that secret, too.”

  “What makes you think—”

  “I want the formula,” Opal interrupts, “and if you don’t tell me where it is, I’ll make sure this knife goes in where you can’t pull it out. It will happen in front of that blithering government official. He’ll have plenty of witnesses that you can’t be killed. Give me the codex before I throw you to the Emperor and his torture chambers!”

  Her dagger cuts even deeper. I let out a stifled cry.

  The Weishan official, rustling his ostentatious yellow robes, clears his throat again and starts unrolling a scroll.

  Someone bumps against Opal, jarring her, and the pressure from her dagger momentarily lightens. I move without conscious effort. I twist free of Opal’s gripping hand and swing around, extending my opened palm. The fleshy part of my hand strikes her squarely in the nose, breaking it, and she stagger backward, her face puffy and bleeding.

  “In connection with the recent theft of important imperial evidence…”

  I vaguely hear the imperial official’s droning voice. Opal cups a hand over her nose, removes it, and stares in disbelief at her own crimson blood.

  “…the following students will come with me for questioning.”

  Opal Deng. A Dikang agent. But how can that be? I’ve known her all my life.

  “Student Jade Hua.”

  I hear a rustle of movement around me—students turning to stare at me before quickly backing away. Opal figures out what’s happening the same instant I do, and she quickly fades into the crowd.

  “Student Lily West.”

  I’m being summoned for questioning. Lily is, too. I turn around, dazed, and stare at the reflected sunlight in the Weishan official’s glasses.

  “These two students will present themselves to me immediately.”

  Strangely, I’m not afraid. I search for a path of escape, but there’s none to be found. The nearest bingmayong, having singled me out from the crowd, are already moving purposefully toward me. I’ll have to act fast. I won’t go without a fight.

  My heart still pumps from my altercation with Opal, and my hands tremble as I reach for my elegant battle fans, but before my fingers can close around them something unexpected happens.

  I see a blur of motion. A whirling form has detached itself from the crowd, and the rearmost automaton’s head flies off its shoulders. Gray steam and silver mercury geyser out of its terra cotta neck. Its body hasn’t even hit the grass before Mistress Jiu-Li engages its nearest companion. She dodges a vicious blow from a double-edged sword, spins low, and comes up again in a move I recognize from the Wind Dance. Her tessen slices cleanly through an exposed elbow joint, and the automaton’s reddish-brown arm flops uselessly, spewing quicksilver everywhere.

  Mistress Jiu-Li brings it down with a second slash to its knee, but three other bingmayong are charging toward her from the left. She spins again, shoots the metal spikes from her fan, and her attackers’ faces shatter. Terra cotta shrapnel flies everywhere. No longer covered by any frightening semblance of a human face, the terra cotta warriors’ true nature is exposed. Thin copper coils worm through grotesque wooden skulls, smooth silvery orbs swivel in oversized eye sockets. Their heavy booted feet carry them a few more yards before they pitch face-forward into the earth.

  Students are screaming, running. I see bingmayong shove my schoolmates to the left and the right. The terra cotta warriors, momentarily forgetting about me, converge on my dance instructor instead.

  “Mistress Jiu-Li!” I scream.

  The panicked mob hides her from view. I push toward her, ignoring the danger. There she is! I’ve reached a break in the stampeding crowd. I’ve reached it just in time to watch a terra cotta warrior shove its spear through her back.

  “No!”

  The spearhead exits through her stomach, and she glances down with a surprised look on her face. Blood—too much blood—stains her robe and trickles from her mouth.

  “No!” I scream a second time.

  I’ve removed one of my battle fans and brandish it wildly. Mistress Jiu-Li sees me—sees the opened tessen—and I glimpse a faint smile before a grimace contorts her lips.

  The automaton withdraws its spear, allowing her pierced body to drop to the earth. Her eyes are glazing, her flesh already has death’s gray pallor. At this awful instant, someone grabs my shoulder.

  “Jade. Come with me.”

  I turn and stare.

  “Jade,” Mistress Song repeats, “we have to leave.”

  I look at Mistress Jiu-Li again. Bingmayong crowd around her the same way they crowded around the blond boy with the knife.

  Lily appears at my side. She has something shiny in her hand.

  “Help me, Lily!” Mistress Song says. “We have to get Jade away from here.”

  One of the bingmayong turns its terra cotta face toward me. The rest of them turn as if sharing their brother’s sight. Enough mental clarity returns to tell me our escape options are rapidly dwindling.

  “This way!” Mistress Song commands. “Into the pagoda!”

  Lily tucks something through her sash. It’s the dagger from the bathing hall. She kept it. She puts her arm around me, and, together, she and Mistress Song propel me up the Qin Pagoda’s redwood steps.

  “It was Opal,” I whisper.

  “What?”

  “She’s the one who tried to kill me.”

  Lily gives me a worried look. Maybe she should be worried. Why am I talking about Opal Deng when bingmayong are charging toward us? I feel like I’m slogging through mental mud. None of this seems real.

  We reach the pagoda door, and Mistress Song shoves it open. She pushes Lily and me inside, slams the door shut, and quickly drops the door’s heavy crossbar in place. I watch, confused, as she runs to Master Chang’s chalkboard, kneels beside it, and runs her fingers around its lower frame. Something clicks. The entire thing swings outward, and I’m now
staring into an empty wall space.

  “Get in. Now!”

  Lily lifts her robe enough to step through the opening. She reaches back to help me, and I sluggishly follow. As Mistress Song comes in behind us, the pagoda door rattles violently. She pulls the chalkboard shut an instant before the door explodes. I hear pieces of shattered wood skitter across the floor. Heavy footsteps—too heavy to be human—shake the floorboards. Student chalkboards and suanpans make clattering noises as they’re kicked by terra cotta feet.

  We’re in total darkness. If I held my hand directly in front of my nose, I wouldn’t be able to see it. But I hear everything perfectly. Too perfectly. I also hear the muffled but familiar voice echoing through the wall.

  “Jade? Are you here, Jade?”

  A long pause. Lily grasps my hand and squeezes it hard.

  “Help me, Jade…”

  Mistress Jiu-Li?

  “Please, Jade… I’m bleeding. Show yourself and save me…”

  It sounds like her voice, but something’s wrong. Mistress Jiu-Li would never form her sentences that way.

  A mind manipulation. Would I be seeing and not just hearing her if I wasn’t cocooned in absolute darkness? Whatever lurks on the opposite side of the wall isn’t her, and it soon moves away to join its comrades in their upstairs search.

  I’m shivering. I hear crashes and bangs overhead. There’s also commotion outside. I don’t know how long we stand shoulder to shoulder in complete silence, but Lily squeezes my hand so long and so hard it begins to tingle. Unable to see, I concentrate on my remaining senses: the sharp tang of our frightened perspiration; the moist nervousness of Lily’s hand; the dusty, uncirculated quality of the air. That last observation makes my chest constrict. We’re safely hidden, but how does Mistress Song intend to get us out of here?

  The space between the walls is narrow, just wide enough to sit if I pull my knees up against my chest. This is the position I eventually find myself in. I don’t know when I scooted down the wall to sit.

  Why was this hidden wall space put here in the first place, and how did Mistress Song know about it? Was it prepared for situations like this? Are there secret rooms in every pagoda?

  I tiredly shake my head. The only thing that matters is we’re trapped. I’ve been in this wall for an eternity, and I’ll be here for another one before this ordeal ends. Even though I can’t see, I rub my eyes. There’s no way out.

  No way but one.

  I can always escape through my dreams.

  FIFTY-ONE

  五十一

  JENNA

  Our cab has small television screens built into the backs of the front passenger and driver’s seats. It might provide an entertaining distraction if both screens weren’t cycling through the same paid advertisements over and over again.

  “What’s going to happen to all those things in Yeye’s apartment,” I casually ask, “now that he’s dead?”

  “You mean that wall to wall collection of antiques? Your Grandpa Lee has already sold some of it to other antique dealers. The rest will be given away or sold in an estate sale.”

  “Already sold some of it?” My heart sickens. “Like what?”

  “Oh, a bunch of moldy old books to a few antique book dealers. Several valuable pieces of furniture to an antique furniture store.”

  She laughs sadly.

  “It will no longer look like Yeye’s place after Grandpa Lee is finished with it. Yeye’s lived there since I was a little girl. It has always been crowded with interesting old things.”

  “So we’re going to see his apartment one last time?”

  I allow a thin glimmer of hope to lighten my heart.

  “Yeye left us a few things in his will. And Dad—your grandpa—says we can take a few of the antiques if we see anything we like.”

  I hide my hands, which are shivering, under my thighs. Please be there! Please don’t be sold!

  So Mom won’t see how anxious I am, I change the subject.

  “I forgot to tell you, I need to meet with an assigned partner to put together a World History report.”

  “Oh? When is the report due?”

  “On Monday.”

  “Monday?” Mom looks displeased.

  “I didn’t know about it until yesterday,” I quickly explain. “You checked me out of school before class on the day it was assigned.”

  “Your teacher didn’t leave much time to complete the work.”

  “I know.”

  Mr. Carlson usually lets us know about these things weeks in advance. He’d probably give me extra time if I asked, but I’m looking forward to seeing Derek, so I don’t mention this to Mom.

  “Anyway, my partner wants to meet with me at the library Sunday afternoon when we get back.”

  “The library closes at five on Sundays. I don’t know if we can get there that soon.”

  “I can text Derek. He can check out the books we need. There are lots of quiet places to sit outside.”

  “Derek?”

  Great! I’ve already given away too much.

  Mom is now grinning. “This partner of yours… You don’t by any chance find him attractive, do you?”

  I wonder if there’s a way to hide a blush when you become good at controlling mind amplitudes.

  “Some girls might think he’s attractive. I don’t know. He’s just a kid in my class. I didn’t choose my partner.”

  At least that last part is true. Fortunately Mom decides not to razz me about it.

  “You can’t meet at his or our house instead of the library?” she asks. “I’m just thinking about your safety.”

  “It’s a public place,” I say. “Right next to the sheriff’s department. And there are always people out for a walk on Sunday evenings.”

  “I suppose it should be safe enough…” Mom is reluctant, but she’s beginning to cave. “How long do you think you’ll need? I can wait nearby in the car if you want.”

  “I don’t know,” I say. “Maybe an hour or two. You don’t have to wait. I can text you.”

  Mom nods. She’s silent a moment then says, “The police will catch him soon. They always catch those kinds of men. Then you can live a normal life again.”

  She puts her arm around me, and I feel a shudder pass through it.

  She has a strange look in her eyes. It’s the same strained look I’ve seen once or twice before, like she’s trying to remember something but can’t because everything’s fuzzy. Finally, she gives up and her eyes return to normal.

  What’s going to happen to us? How will this end if Yeye’s Xu Fu book is gone?

  I try not to think about that. It can’t be gone. God won’t let that happen.

  FIFTY-TWO

  五十二

  JADE

  I open my eyes to disorienting pitch blackness. For a moment I’m terrified, not knowing where I am. When I remember, I’m even more frightened. I’m still trapped in a wall. It’s going to become my living crypt.

  Tap, tap, tap.

  I hear the quiet rapping and stiffen. There’s a sound of movement where Mistress Song is located.

  Tap, tap.

  This time the cautious knocking comes from our side of the wall.

  A rustling of robes tells me Mistress Song is getting to her feet.

  Something clicks, the secret door swings open, and I’m momentarily blinded by moonlight. It’s not often that moonlight can blind.

  “I’ve been searching for you everywhere,” a whispered male voice says. “I thought they’d catch me before I found you.”

  I think I should recognize this voice, but the boy’s face is shrouded in shadow, and my mind is still murky from sleep.

  “You’ve come too soon,” Mistress Song says. “It can’t possibly be safe yet.”

  “They’re bringing dogs. Tonight.”

  Mistress Song hesitates a moment.

  “Dogs can be misled,” she says. “Their senses can be deceived.”

  “Not these dogs. They’re a sp
ecial breed sent by airship from Imperial City. The Emperor himself arranged their delivery.”

  Mistress Song’s silhouetted form stiffens. She says nothing for several moments, then leans down and touches Lily’s and my shoulders.

  “Get up,” she whispers. “We’re leaving.”

  Our rescuer—at least I hope that’s what he’ll prove to be—helps Mistress Song through the rectangular opening. When I stand, he clasps my hand and helps me, too. At that moment, I glimpse his face and freeze.

  “Flint!”

  Flint grins. His smile makes me feel safer. I step out of the way so he can help Lily through.

  “The bingmayong,” Mistress Song whispers. “How many?”

  “At least twenty stayed behind. There are four at the gate and the rest are patrolling the walls and watching the buildings.”

  “Did they take anyone?”

  “Only Keiko. But she’ll escape before morning.”

  A name I don’t recognize. Obviously another one of the academy’s secrets.

  “No talking,” Mistress Song warns as she hurries us toward the door. “No falling behind. Let Flint and me deal with the bingmayong if they spot us.”

  My throat is too parched to talk and I’m too afraid of being left alone to fall behind. And, as for the bingmayong, Flint and Mistress Song are more than welcome to deal with those things.

  I could badly use a stop at the lavatory, but that’s not an option right now. The moon is bright. Its milky light reveals the academy’s grounds in stark black and white detail. I see every statue and every tree. Water leaps in the marble fountain and flowers stir in the soft night breeze. I also hear loud footsteps—terra cotta warriors moving with stiff marching steps. I shiver and beads of perspiration moisten my forehead.

  Flint leads us around the redwood porch through dark shadows, stopping us as two automatons stride around. They intersect our intended path less than ten feet away from us, and I wonder if their unnatural ears detect the mallet blows in my chest?

  They don’t give any indication of seeing or hearing us. They move directly to the circular path at center campus and march slowly around it. Flint makes several silent hand gestures to Mistress Song. She gestures back, and he looks at Lily and me.