The Dragon Songs Saga: The Complete Quartet: Songs of Insurrection, Orchestra of Treacheries, Dances of Deception, and Symphony of Fates

by JC Kang

  Stumbling to the ground, she twisted over, just avoiding the hack of another sword. It sent showers of sparks by her head. Yet the roll positioned her prone in front of the sixth altivorc. He cocked his broadsword back, ready to run her through.

  Jie hooked his ankle and leaned into his shin with her shoulder. He sprawled backward, and she used her momentum to flip over him. The dress prevented her from straddling him in a controlling position, so she continued her roll. Finger-jabs in his eyes vaulted her back into a stand.

  She took two steps back to reassess the situation. The first altivorc lay dying, the second was incapacitated by torn knee ligaments. The second pair appeared undamaged by her spikes, regrouping with the fifth altivorc to continue their attack. The sixth staggered to his feet, clawing at his black-bloodied eye sockets.

  Past them, the guards still formed a protective ring around the princess, and pressed toward Jie. Luckily—at least as far as duty was concerned—the altivorcs seemed more concerned with her than the princess.

  Jie whipped out a pair of knives and sheared slits down her dress to allow more mobility.

  The altivorcs closed in a coordinated attack, cutting in three different directions. Jie twisted away toward their phalanx’s left flank, putting one between her and the other two. As he spun at her with a backhand chop, she sank her knife into his exposed throat.

  Before either of the remaining two could attack, the imperial guards came up from behind. Ma Jun decapitated one in a spray of black blood, while Chen Xin drove his dao through the other, punching through the chain armor as if it were cloth.

  The escape path was clear—

  Two figures with curved talwar swords stepped in and blocked their way. They wore plain brown kurtas. Scarves wrapped around their faces, revealing only their eyes. One leapt past Jie before she could react and began cutting through the guards with blinding speed.

  The other fixed her focus on Jie. Those eyes…they belonged to the female Golden Scorpion who’d tried to slip poison into Princess Kaiya’s wine.

  Jie unleashed her last biao spikes and stars with a single sweep of her hand.

  Impossibly, the Scorpion evaded most and deflected the rest out of the air with a flash of her talwar, then lunged forward to close the distance. The speed with which she covered fifteen feet bordered on the unbelievable.

  Jie flipped her knife into an underhand grip. There was no chance she could survive against such a skilled swordfighter.

  In that second of resignation, the Scorpion attacked. The intention behind the dozen superhumanly fast slashes was as clear as if the Scorpion had whispered them beforehand. Pressed back, Jie suffered only a few nicks, though the sleeves of her beautiful gown were shredded to ribbons.

  The Scorpion disengaged, her gaze flicking behind Jie.

  In that direction, Ayana’s voice growled, followed by the sound of dozens of weapons clattering to the ground. Jie didn’t dare risk a glance back.

  When they set out, Kaiya’s stifling court gowns, more suited to a cool spring in Hua, had made the hot and humid day downright miserable. That was a mundane concern now. She should’ve listened to Jie and Chen Xin’s advice.

  A blindingly fast swordsman darted back and forth around the perimeter of her own protective ring, stabbing and slashing with a rapid tittering of clashing blades. He engaged Li Wei and Ma Jun, who fought in unison. Neither the swoosh of one blade nor the clanging of another deterred his onslaught. A flash of his curved sword would’ve ended Li Wei’s life had he not deflected it with a last-second clank.

  Li Wei reeled back, his boots pattering on the pavement. The enemy closed, stepping toward Chen Xin’s thrust and the swish of Ma Jun’s horizontal slash. He spun out of the attacks like a gush of air, and the pommel of his sword met Ma Jun’s skull with a crunch.

  Xu Zhan’s sword tolled as it received the blow which would’ve finished off Ma Jun. The assailant’s foot brushed through the air, thudding into Xu’s temple. He tumbled into Zhao Yue, and both clattered to the ground.

  Chen Xin backed off, keeping himself between the assassin and her, while Li Wei pressed the attack on wobbly feet. The man slammed his fist into Li Wei’s nose, sending him sprawling.

  “Princess Kaiya.” The attacker raised his blade over Li Wei’s inert form. “Come with us peacefully, and we will spare your guards.”

  Far behind her, Ayana’s voice sang in the melodic language of elven magic.

  Chen Xin lunged forward, his sword whipping through the air; but the man evaded the attacks and elbowed Chen in the temple, knocking him to the ground. He looked to make good on his threat, raising his sword and chopping down.

  Kaiya swept out the long sleeve of her gown, entangling his blade before it finished Chen Xin.

  The attacker twirled the sword, wrapping the priceless fabric around his weapon. He jerked her forward, but she spun her way out of the gown and grasped the other sleeve in her hand.

  As he stood and gawked at her bare shoulders, she coiled the gown around his sword and swept it from his hands and onto the street. His eyes widened further for a split second.

  Moving faster than she could see, he lunged. His fingers clenched around her wrist.

  Years of Praise Moon Fist training allowed her contact reflexes to take over. She turned her wrist out of his grip, and he reached with his other hand toward her neck. Without conscious thought, she covered the opening with her free arm, intercepting his hand and guiding it downward. Still, her tactile responses couldn’t keep up with him.

  Ayana’s voice sang out again, closer now, and the man’s speed slowed to almost normal. With this change, Kaiya gained the advantage. She pinned the man’s hands close to his body while delivering an onslaught of punches, strong enough to send him reeling back. He ducked into a roll back toward his sword, still wrapped up in the remains of her outer gown.

  A warm palm pressed on her shoulder at the same time a single, guttural syllable echoed in her ears. Her head swam with blurring colors before all went black.

  The female Scorpion launched another flurry of attacks at Jie, making her give more ground than she had left. She would be bumping up against the princess soon. She started to reengage.

  Behind her, Ayana uttered a foul-sounding word. The air popped.

  Her opponent lowered her sword, eyes wide in the slits of the cloth. Jie shot a quick glance back.

  Princess Kaiya and Ayana were gone.

  Recovering from her surprise, Jie reached down and claimed Li Wei’s dao, easily hefting its balanced weight in her right hand while brandishing the knife in her left. She grimaced at the pain in her flank—only now did she realize she’d been cut across the ribs. Her legs wobbled and her vision blurred for a second.

  She raked her gaze over the area.

  Besides spectators who kept their distance, only the two Scorpions were left standing. The Hua guards and several other attackers lay on the ground, incapacitated, killed or…sleeping?

  Both Golden Scorpions advanced on her.

  Even the improved reach the dao gave her would do little to help her against one, let alone two, of these astounding warriors. She resigned herself to the inevitable. Regrets threatened to break her already-fading concentration. Never learning who her parents were. Never telling Zheng Tian she loved him…

  “Paladins!” The words passed from mouth to mouth among the distraught crowds. When the Scorpions looked past her, Jie glanced back as well. A dozen men in white kurtas with gold embroidered necks ran at astonishing speeds toward them, their curved naga swords drawn.

  The two villains ran off, leaving Jie to curse herself for thinking such silly thoughts. She bent down to check on the closest imperial guard, Xu Zhan.

  He was alive. Thank the Heavens.

  When she started to stand, everything faded to black.

  CHAPTER 39:

  Interlude

  Kaiya was cold, and her head ached. Her forearms stung and her knuckles burned. The soft surface beneath her was coo
l and damp. Grass. A sweet and nostalgic smell of evergreens hung in the air. Nearby, water rustled over rocks. Beyond the stream, beautiful voices spoke softly in a wondrous, musical language.

  Her eyes complained as she forced them open. Gradually, the dappled sunlight peeking through the spindly tendrils of pine needles came into focus above her. What had happened? Where was she?

  Her head protested at the effort to ease herself up, but she at last managed to sit upright. She looked toward the voices. A stone’s throw away, a short, lithe silhouette gesticulated. The size, her voice… Ayana.

  The ambush, the fight with the Scorpion. Her guards, fallen. Her priceless outer gown, lost. Maybe that’s why it was so cold. Though it certainly hadn’t been so chilly outside before.

  “Ayana,” she called. “What happened?”

  The shadowed form moved toward her, revealing a second thin figure, who remained behind. Ayana stepped into the sunlight, which cast her face in a pale sheen.

  Her voice sounded weak. “Princess Kaiya, you are finally awake. You fainted and have been unconscious for three hours. It is a typical reaction, the first time you travel through the ethers. I imagine your head must feel as if it were split by a dwarf’s axe.”

  Travelled through the ethers! Like Lord Xu, though she had never expected to ever do it herself. They could be anywhere. “Where are we? Where are my guards?”

  Ayana pursed her lips. “I have sworn not to reveal our location, and in fact I am not entirely sure. I used an emergency spell that transported us to an anchor held by a friend of mine. Suffice to say, we are safe for now.”

  Safe! But what about… “The guards, Jie…we need to get back to them.”

  “I don’t have the energy.” Ayana sighed. “The Shallow Magic incantation is very taxing, especially when I transport someone else. Not to mention all the energy I used to protect you in your ill-advised escapade.”

  “We need to get back.” Kaiya’s voice sounded like a petulant child’s to her own ears, but her retinue was her responsibility. Her fault.

  “I am sorry, Princess Kaiya, but it is just not possible. We will have to wait until this evening, after I have rested.”

  The second shadow spoke in a mellifluous male voice. The words sang like a chorus of nightingales, reminiscent of Lord Xu.

  Ayana shook her head adamantly, but he protested. She harrumphed. “My friend has agreed to send us back to Vyara City, although not to the same spot. He can only transport us somewhere he has been before. I would advise against it, since I am too weak to protect you now.”

  “I cannot just wait here and do nothing.”

  Ayana’s brows furrowed. Despite the angry expression, her tone remained calm. “It is that self-assured attitude, that foolhardiness, which got you into that ambush in the first place. How many people have died because of your vanity?”

  Kaiya’s face flushed hot, partially from anger at the audacity of the rebuke, but mostly from shame. The elf was right. Kaiya placed too much faith in her own abilities of persuasion, never considering that that alone might be insufficient.

  Ayana continued, merciless. “Do you realize what could have happened? Had I not been able to get back to you in time, the Golden Scorpions would have captured you. Prince Dhananad would be deflowering you right about now.”

  Kaiya shuddered. She pushed the image of the musky prince’s leer out of her mind.

  The other elf emerged into the clearing. A longbow hung over his shoulder, and a thin straight sword, similar to Xu’s, dangled at his side. Handsome, with fine features and shiny golden hair, he wore a poncho of forest-green.

  No, not handsome; he was gorgeous. Kaiya straightened out her inner gown and ran a hand through her hair.

  When he spoke in Arkothi, it was tinged with a sensually exotic elvish accent: “Ayana does not speak out of maliciousness. You will not find a more caring person.”

  Ayana’s eyebrows sunk into a scowl. “I—”

  He flashed a devilish grin at the matronly elf. “She has been alive since before the time your ancestor General Shyaotian established the Wang Dynasty, and carries three centuries of experience on her shoulders. She knows the human strengths that lead to the rise of nations, and the human weaknesses that have led to their collapse. Take her wisdom to heart.”

  Kaiya shuffled in place. “I understand. But my retainers are my responsibility. I cannot just sit here and do nothing.”

  He held her gaze. “Think carefully about what you can do in your condition. I can tell you firsthand that Vyara City is not as safe as you think. You should know this already. But if you believe it is that important to go back, I will send you.”

  Kaiya nodded. Still, she had to do something. “It is. Please send me back.”

  He shrugged. “Very well, if you are so insistent.” He chanted several whimsical words of elven magic.

  Kaiya’s eyelids grew heavy, her head faint. Just before she slipped out of consciousness, he reached over with elegant grace and caught her.

  Ayana frowned at Thielas Starsong for a dozen reasons, past and present.

  He was too busy admiring Princess Kaiya to notice her scowl.

  “Always a fool for a pretty human face,” she said.

  Thielas lowered the foolish girl to the ground at Ayana’s feet. He then looked up with the grin that had disarmed so many in the past. Herself included. “The ephemeral nature of their beauty makes it all the more precious. I don’t think you would understand.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I don’t. Are you chasing that redheaded princess now? The fetish for headstrong human girls runs in your family.”

  His lips twitched. “You almost broke me of it, so long ago.”

  Ayana paused to think back on her middle years, when the strapping elf prince had reminded her of what it meant to be young again. A smile quirked on her lips, unbidden.

  He locked his gaze on her, then looked away. “I have not been to Vyara City in thirty-two years. I don’t have fond memories. It’s the site of one of my two greatest mistakes in life. However, I will send you back to the Crystal Citadel. It is the safest place I know there.” He studied the silly girl. “She is strong-willed and has a lot to learn. She may or may not remember much of this brief interlude, though I hope your lecture sticks.”

  Grinning, he sprinkled flower petals in a circle around her and the princess. His eyes flashed up to meet hers. “It was good to see you again, Ayana. Don’t you find it interesting how often our paths have crossed in the last year, after a hundred years of separation?”

  She shrugged. “Our involvement in human affairs has led to these unexpected reunions.”

  “We elves are too few. We must guide the humans so they can prevent the Tivari from reconquering Tivaralan.”

  “Nonetheless, I never expected nor hoped to see you again.”

  Thielas laughed. “You would hold the indiscretions of my youth against me?”

  “No, only that I would hope you always remember me when I was as beautiful as she.” Ayana lifted her chin toward Kaiya’s sleeping form.

  He laughed again. “You have always been older than I, and although you were wildly stunning then, I was mostly attracted to your wisdom.” He winked suggestively at her. “I have to admit, that has seemed to grow only more in the last century.”

  Despite her many years and resistance to such charms, Ayana still felt the flush in her cheeks. She stared down at the ground, and then lifted her eyes to speak.

  Thielas began a long chant in the flowery words of elf-magic. She knew not to interrupt his song, lest they reappear before the Altivorc King’s throne or a Teleri breeding site. She fell silent, waiting patiently for the scenery to shift around her.

  As he inflected the last syllable, her body began to slip through the ethers. The colors coalesced and reformed into an enormous chamber of marble with light blue streaks of istrium. A magnificent dome above swirled with color, like the Iridescent Moon itself. Princess Kaiya slept peacefully at her feet. />
  Gasps of surprise echoed through the Crystal Citadel’s audience chamber, followed by the rasping of a dozen swords sliding from their sheaths.

  CHAPTER 40:

  Awakenings

  Birds chirped in harmony with the low hum around her. Cool and light, the soft touch of fine linen sheets brushed across Kaiya’s bare skin. The refreshing sensation stood in stark contrast to the humid heat hanging in her lungs. Muffled sounds of a distant conversation coaxed her into consciousness.

  Though feeling fully revitalized, she eased her eyes open tentatively. They focused on large windows from which sunlight streamed in at a low angle, casting long shadows across the white, undecorated room.

  Kaiya bolted up into a sitting position on a soft, unfamiliar bed. Her chest tightened. There was something eerily familiar about waking up in a strange place. Her brow scrunched up as she tried to recall her last memory…the ambush.

  Guilt flooded over her. She looked frantically around the white-walled room. First locating the heavy wood door, her gaze then settled on a red sari draped over a simple wooden chair. The only other furnishings were the bed and a basin of water.

  The breeze on her skin… She was naked, save for underpants and some musky-smelling gauze wrapped around her forearms. Kaiya pulled the sheets up to cover herself. Had she been captured? An image of Prince Dhananad’s foul hands on her sent a cold shiver up her spine. Quickly banishing the notion, she eased herself from the bed, pulling the sheets along to stay covered in the event some rogue barged in through the door.

  The window would give an idea of where she was, but it would also give anyone walking by a good look at her bare skin. She went to investigate the red fabric on the chair. Unsure of how to drape the sari correctly, she put on the choli shirt and langa petticoat first. Its open back, low neckline, and bare midriff was too immodest, resembling undergarments, but it was certainly better than exploring a strange place in nothing more than bandages.