Michiko took the aspirin, put everything back and moved away. Beth silently gave thanks that they hadn’t been interrupted by the guards, and that her jacket had been enchanted to allow Michiko to find things in the pockets even if no one else could. “Can’t you just take off the circlet?” Beth asked.
“I already tried,” Michiko said. “I could feel it triggering another powerful migraine, and that might be enough to cause a stroke.”
“Got it.” Beth fell silent, giving Michiko a chance to recover and let the aspirin do what it could. After a minute, she said, “Michiko? What you said back in Hong’s tent…was that true? Or were you just lying to stop the Headache Sutra?”
Michiko shook her head. “Khavorski would have known if I wasn’t telling the truth. And I’m the world’s worst liar anyway.”
Oh boy, Beth thought. “We’ll talk more about this later, then.”
“Beth…” Michiko lowered her head.
“Michiko—” Beth pushed her tangled thoughts and feelings to the side. “What happened there, what you said, it doesn’t matter right now. What matters is rescuing Prince Yun and getting to the Bridge of Magpies in time to stop Hong and fulfill the prophecy.”
“But…” Michiko reddened.
“No buts,” Beth said firmly. “Jiao’s in trouble. She needs you, Michiko. She needs the Monkey Queen. It’s time to save the world.”
For a moment, Michiko was quiet, motionless. She slowly raised her head. “Let’s get out of here,” she said. Beth saw the fire in her eyes, and had to hold back a smile as Michiko reached for her jacket pocket, and Mec’s key.
The cook had been heading for the mess tent when he saw two of Hong’s guards slipping inside the brig. He hurried after them, shouting, “Idiots! What are you doing?”
“We’re visiting the Monkey Queen and her lover!” one guard, who was quite tall, slurred. The cook winced at the alcohol on the guard’s breath.
The other, who was quite short, held up a wine jug. “We’re going to see if they’ll put on a show for us!” He took a deep swig from the jug and belched.
“Baka!” the cook yelled. “What if Lord Hong sees you?”
“He’s already gone!” The tall guard laughed as he and his friend stopped in front of a cell door. “He’ll miss all the fun!”
“Monkey Queen!” the short guard shouted as he reached for his keys. “I brought you and your sweetheart some wine—”
The door sprung open. The soldiers jumped back as Michiko lunged at them. She kneed the tall one below the belt, slugged him as he bent over, and caught the short one with an elbow in the back of the head as he tried to turn away. The cook started to run, but as he did, he could hear someone saying, “Zap!” A magic bolt struck him in the back, and he fell to the floor.
Michiko and Beth stepped out of their cell and looked down the hall. “All clear,” Beth said. “What’s next?”
“Finding Yun and Auntie Ting,” Michiko said. “I just hope that Hong didn’t give them back to the ogres—” She stopped as a cell door opened, dropping into a defensive stance. Beth aimed her wand at the doorway.
Auntie Ting walked out of the cell, Prince Yun behind her. “Monkey Queen! Wizard!” the priestess said. “What kept you?”
Beth lowered her wand. “I’ll bet you’re not surprised either,” she said to Michiko.
They quietly slipped out of the brig. “What’s the plan?” Beth asked.
“We need to get to the Bridge of Magpies,” Yun said. “And quickly, before Hong can propose and the prophecy goes unfulfilled.”
Auntie Ting pointed towards the stables. “We need the fastest horses we can get.”
“And we need to get past the guards.” Beth pointed at the two men who flanked the stable doors.
“Maybe we need a distraction—” the prince started to say.
Michiko ran towards the guards. Before they could react, she had kicked both of them in the knees, then knocked them out as they crumpled to the ground. “Grab a sword,” she said to Yun.
“That works too,” the prince said as he removed a swordbelt from one of the guards. As he did, Beth tapped the stable doors with Mec’s key, and they swung open.
They stepped into the stables, and saw that almost all the stalls were empty. “What happened?” Yun asked.
“Hong is probably bringing all his bachelor buddies,” Beth said. “Big engagement party.”
“Back there.” Michiko pointed at the last two horses in the stable. “They look big enough to carry two of us each.”
“They’re older horses,” Yun said. “They may not be fast enough.”
“I’ll talk to them.” Auntie Ting walked up to the two horses and stroked their manes. “Listen,” she said. “You were proud once, swift and bold, running free. Remember those days! We need you to reclaim that spirit for one last ride. The princess needs us!”
The horses whinnied and stamped their feet. Auntie Ting looked back at the others. “Baka!” she yelled. “Stop gawking! We have work to do!”
Hong’s warriors had been searching the fortress since they had discovered that the prisoners had escaped. “Where are they!” one guard shouted, throwing up his hands.
“The stables!” another said, pointing to the two unconscious guards. They started towards the stable doors.
Before they could get there, two stallions charged out of the stable, Michiko and Beth on one, Yun and Auntie Ting on the other. “For Princess Jiao!” the priestess said as the horses headed for the fortress gate, warriors jumping out of the way.
One of Hong’s men lifted a crossbow and aimed it at the riders. Before he could fire, a gold-tipped wooden staff flew through the air and hit him on the back of his head. He collapsed as the staff returned to Michiko’s outstretched hand.
The stallions charged through the gate and up the trail to the Bridge of Magpies. Behind them, one guard shouted, “Get word to Lord Hong! The Monkey Queen and her wizard lover have escaped!”
“What?” Yun said, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s…complicated,” Beth said, blushing. She could feel Michiko tensing up in front of her. It’s going to be a long ride, she thought.
Chapter Nine
The stallions and their riders followed the trail that Hong’s party had left. The ride was fast and rough enough that Beth had to focus most of her energy towards hanging on to Michiko, to keep from falling off. She had never been on a horse for this long, and she knew she’d be sore in some unfortunate places later.
Still, Beth was glad that something had come up to take her mind off Michiko’s confession. She was still having trouble believing what she had heard. And there was one thought that kept popping up in her mind. Why me? I’m not beautiful or sexy. I’m not a great fighter or a mighty hero. I’m just a geek girl. I’m nothing special.
“Halt!”
Beth glanced up, her train of thought derailed, and saw one of Hong’s men riding towards them. He lifted his crossbow and aimed it at Prince Yun. “You will surrender!” he said. “No one will stop Lord Hong’s plans!”
Michiko brought her horse to a halt in front of the prince’s. “Wrong,” she said, raising her staff. “Back away, or else.” Behind her, Beth carefully slipped her magic wand out of her pocket.
“Try it, Monkey Queen,” the bowman said, finger tapping the crossbow’s trigger, his eyes never leaving Michiko. “But I will shoot your wizard lover if you make one false move—”
Beth aimed her wand at the bowman. “Zap!” she yelled.
The bolt hit the bowman’s crossbow, knocking it from his hands. “Lucky shot,” he said.
“Hong must be getting overconfident again,” Michiko said. “One of you against four of us?”
The bowman gestured. Warrior after warrior emerged from their hiding places along the trail, surrounding Michiko and her companions on three sides. “Lord Hong planned ahead,” the bowman said as the warriors moved closer.
“Let the others go,” Michiko said. “I’m the o
ne Hong wants.”
“Not true.” The bowman chuckled. “He wants all of you alive long enough to see his triumph. But he’s willing to settle for your severed heads.” The warriors readied their weapons.
“For Princess Jiao!”
All heads turned the way Michiko and the others had come. There were a dozen men on horseback, armored and pointing spears at Hong’s warriors. Behind them was a tall, slender woman in black with a quiet, haunted look in her green eyes.
The man who had spoken earlier gestured at the bowman. “You and the others,” he said. “Drop your weapons and back away.”
“Merchant Sheng!” Michiko shouted, smiling.
Beth glanced below the surface and gasped with joy. “It’s really him!” she yelled to Auntie Ting and Prince Yun.
“Sending ghosts after us?” the bowman said.
“No ghost.” Sheng drew his sword. “No goblin. And Hong will not prevail.”
“You and your friends are still outnumbered!”
“Really?” Sheng nodded at the woman, who raised her hand towards the sky. A bright flare of light shot from her palm.
“Parlor tricks,” the bowman scoffed. He raised his crossbow. “Time to end this—”
He stopped as the ground started to shake. “I would have been here sooner,” Merchant Sheng said, “but I needed to meet with some friends first. General?”
A troop of cavalry charged down the trail towards Hong’s men. The rider at the head of the troop held his sword high. “For Nui!” General Guo said. “For Princess Jiao!”
Hong’s men started to back away. “Hold your ground!” the bowman shouted. “We can still—”
The Monkey Queen jumped off her horse towards the bowman. She grabbed him as she flew through the air, pulling him off his horse and landing hard on top of him; a piledriver elbow silenced him. She snapped to her feet and knocked two of Hong’s men down with one swing of her staff. “Next!” Michiko shouted, glaring at the red-clad warriors.
Hong’s men broke and ran. A few stayed to fight, but they were easily defeated and captured by Sheng’s guards and Nui cavalry. As the battle wrapped up, Michiko helped Beth off her horse and then ran over to Merchant Sheng. “You’re okay!” she shouted as she hugged him. “We thought you were dead!”
“A reed in the wind, my friend,” Sheng said as he pulled back from Michiko. “Blow me down, and I will come back straighter and stronger.”
“Okay,” Beth said. “But how did you get away from the goblins?”
“Before that tale is told,” Sheng said, “General Guo and his men have a camp a short ride from here. We should head there to make our plans to rescue Princess Jiao.”
The goblins raced forward and pulled Merchant Sheng off the rope bridge. Two of them lifted their axes and chopped at the ropes that held the bridge in place. Sheng watched, horrified, as Beth swung towards the cliff, clinging to the railing as the bridge collapsed. He sighed in relief as she managed to hang on, and saw Michiko tying a rope around herself, but then the goblins threw a sack over his head and dragged him away, unnoticed by those on the far side of the cavern.
Sheng was quiet as they went along, trying to rely on his knowledge of the land to figure out where they were going. I only have a goblin seeming, he thought. I am still Sheng. Below his thoughts, though, was concern. Jiao, Michiko and the others were with an imposter, and Sheng feared the worst for his friends, and for the prophecy.
After several hours, the goblins finally stopped and dropped Sheng to the ground. The sack that covered his head was yanked away, and he could see the crude goblin camp, with ragged tents and filth everywhere.
A goblin who was shorter and fatter than the others walked up to him. “This is the one?” he asked. “The merchant?”
“It’s him, Chief Klishk,” another said. “The switch worked perfectly.”
“Good.” Klishk smiled with broken teeth. “Lord Hong will be pleased. And, let us hope, generous when our sorcerer delivers the princess to him.”
“Goblin dogs,” Sheng hissed.
“Bold words from someone in your place, merchant.”
“If you’re going to kill me,” Sheng said, “be done with it, so I can be reincarnated all the faster.”
“Khavorski says we should, but alas, we need to keep you alive,” the goblin chief said. “We owe a debt to a gang of ogres in the forest nearby. You’ll make a nice meal or two for them.”
“May they choke on my bones,” Sheng spat. Klishk laughed as he walked away.
It was a long wait for the goblins to fall asleep, but by the third hour past midnight only a few were awake, patrolling the camp. Sheng feigned sleep as he patiently waited for them to pass where he had been tied up. After they had left, he began to work on the ropes. For all their supposed cleverness, he thought, goblins can overlook the obvious things. Like tying knots properly.
He freed himself and reached inside his robe, pulling a small bamboo tube from a hidden pocket. The bamboo was covered with carved characters and symbols and glowed faintly in the dark. Sheng held one end up to his lips and blew softly through the tube, producing a musical note no one nearby could hear.
He put the tube away and moved his hands behind his back, wrapping the rope around his wrists to give the impression that he was still tied up. He lowered his head, closed his eyes and waited.
It was morning, and Sheng awoke to screams. Goblins were running through the camp, shouting about unseen enemies. Klishk ran past, not looking at his captive as terror consumed him. As the goblins fled, Sheng shook the ropes off his wrists, untied his legs and stood up gingerly.
A woman in a black robe walked through the deserted camp. She stopped when she saw Sheng and eyed him carefully. “Goblin?” she said. “Why did you not flee with the others? Have you no fear?”
Sheng reached into his robe and took out the bamboo tube. He blew softly into one end. The woman nodded and gestured, and Sheng’s seeming vanished. They fell into each other’s arms.
After a long, passionate kiss, Sheng looked deep into the woman’s eyes. “Thank you, Jade Crane,” he said. “Thank you, my love.”
“My pleasure,” she responded. “I would have been here sooner, but you know how long it can take to create a porth.”
“Just for you?”
She shook her head. “I had to bring along Chung and the others. He would never have forgiven me if I hadn’t.”
“Which explains why the goblins fled so quickly,” Sheng said.
“I may have…helped with that.” Jade Crane smiled bewitchingly. “So what are you doing here?”
“I was recruited to help Princess Jiao.” Sheng told the wizard of the prophecy and his kidnapping.
“So the goblin sorcerer will deliver the princess and her friends straight to Lord Hong.” The wizard scowled.
“There’s still a chance to stop Hong,” Sheng said. “I know that General Guo has a cavalry unit camped near the Bridge to Xia for training. If we can get there quickly, I know they will help us.”
“A shame that I am too tired to create another porth, then.”
“I trust you prepared for that possibility?”
“There is a riderless steed.”
“Excellent!” Sheng pulled away from the wizard and headed for the entrance to the goblin camp. “I’ll need to check my maps, but I’m sure there’s a path that’ll get us there quickly.”
Jade Crane smiled and followed him. “You and your shortcuts,” she said softly.
“From there,” Sheng said as he rode, “we made it to Guo’s camp and spoke to the general. Luckily, he had been sent a message about the prophecy and was ready to help.”
“It was good fortune that we found you when we did,” General Guo added.
“Hong’s men concealed their camp well,” Yun said. He and Auntie Ting were back on one of the stallions they had found in Hong’s stables, Michiko and Beth on the other.
“This camp had better be nearby!” Auntie Ting said. “It’s s
tarting to get dark!”
“We’re almost there,” Sheng said.
“I hope there’s something to eat there,” Beth whispered to Michiko. “I’m starving.”
Michiko nodded, staring straight ahead. “Me too,” she said in a flat voice. Beth fell quiet. She could tell that Michiko still had a lot on her mind, and she hated knowing that anything she said would make things worse.
The camp was in a small clearing, and most of it was taken up by tents for the men and hitching posts for the horses. The soldiers had just finished dinner, and there was just enough spare time and leftover food for a quick meal for Prince Yun and his companions. Michiko and Beth ate by themselves, in silence.
When they were done, Beth walked away and yawned. “Are you okay?” Michiko asked Beth as she followed.
“I’m tired,” Beth said as she sat on a large rock near some trees. “It’s been a long few days, and I’m not used to being on horses. I’m sore in places I didn’t think could be sore.”
“Me too.” Michiko dug into her jacket pocket. “Want to split an energy drink?”
“Only if I don’t have time for a quick nap.” Beth forced a grin.
Michiko nodded and looked away. “Beth…I…”
Beth looked at Michiko as her voice trailed off. Her friend was downcast again, almost looking defeated. Beth’s heart ached; she knew she had to do something, even if she didn’t know what. “Michiko…” she started to say.
“Monkey Queen!” The women looked over at one of Guo’s cavalrymen as he approached them. “General Guo is holding a planning session. He requests your presence.”
Michiko nodded. “Let’s go, Beth.”
The soldier held up a hand. “Just you, Monkey Queen. Not your…friend.”
“What?” Michiko said as Beth stared at the cavalryman.
“An order from the general.”
Michiko glared at him. “Well, he should know by now that I don’t always follow orders!”
A Tiding of Magpies Page 10
