by Randal Sloan
The next cave was harder. Julie was able to tell from the way the sound echoed in the cave that it was another bowl, but that was no help in determining what was in it. She could smell only a very slight aroma, and at first she couldn’t figure out what it was. Finally it came to her. It was a bowl of uncooked rice! Again when she exited, announcing her decision, the monk nodded at her answer.
The next cave was even harder. But Julie was getting better at it, too. She could tell the sound in the cave was being absorbed to some extent by the object. So it was soft and somewhat porous to sound. She smelled a hint of dust and also ink. So it had to be paper, but she sensed something was off about it. Finally, it came to her what it had to be. It was round and not flat. A scroll!
Master Tresden gave her a big smile as soon as she told him. He also gave her a choice. “You have successfully completed the minimum test requirements. However, there are two remaining caves, if you decide you want to continue. If you do complete them, it will be of benefit later in your standing within the rankings, assuming you are successful in obtaining beginning monk status.”
Julie gave him the bow of the earnest student. “I will continue. Thank you.”
As she expected, each cave continued to be harder than the one before it. The object echoed the sound strongly, much stronger than the wooden bowls, so it had to be something metal, glass, or stone. But she didn’t get that metallic taste in her mouth so it was not metal. But it was very hard based on the sound reflections, so it could not be a simple stone, which would have pores that absorbed at least a tiny amount of sound. Even glass would have absorbed a little bit. What in the world was it? Once more she forced herself to think it through. What if it was a gem? But if so, what kind. None of the five senses would tell her, so she turned to her second sight. It was not a diamond or a ruby but a sapphire. Somehow, she sensed a blue glow to it. It had to be blue!
When she came out of the cave and told the monk, he stared at her, almost in disbelief. “All I needed for the answer was a gem. How did you do that?” Then he shrugged. “Never mind. You have already exceeded my expectations. Why would this one be different?”
Julie entered the last cave. She kept trying to sense the object, but nothing was there. What could it be? Nothing, she got absolutely nothing. Well, that wasn’t true. She could hear some kind of echo that she could not place. But nothing was there! Suddenly she smiled. That’s not fair, she thought, listening to the echo. It was a cheat of sorts, an empty pit that would probably be so deep it could be called bottomless.
Standing there with her mind wide open, Julie all of a sudden had an insight on black holes. If a black hole was perpetuated in all of the particle universes, would it not have a unique signature that would help her describe the fabric that she believed held the universe together? Would that help her build the propulsion system she was certain she was going to need to rescue her father?
A little shaken up by her near vision, she tried to steady her nerves before exiting the cave. It wouldn’t do to show that to her companion. Finally she had it together enough to go out. Looking him in the eyes, she told Master Tresden what she thought was there.
Julie was caught by surprise by his response. He laughed out loud, a pleasant sound. “Why am I surprised? Of course you would figure it out. Everyone is always so focused on what is supposed to be there, they don’t recognize that nothing is something or at least the lack of something. Very few are able to get this one.”
Master Tresden gave a deeper bow to her than she was expecting. Master to most superb student. “Come with me. You are to compete on the obstacle course next. I must warn you, the group that you will be competing with for this test is not going to be happy to see you, to their detriment I am sure.” He gave another small laugh at that, bringing a smile to Julie’s face. She really liked this monk. Based on her apparent role as an agent of change, unfortunately he was probably right.
He led her back down the path and then away from the compound, bringing her to a new training area she had not seen before. There he passed her off to yet another monk who had an entirely new group of students.
#
This group was going through a complex set of moves, but Julie quickly picked up on their routine and began moving with them. As foretold by Master Tresden, they were definitely unfriendly to her. Even the monk, Master Dharg, who was leading the new group, seemed a little cold. Julie was beginning to get tired of this!
What Julie did not know was that Master Dharg was a member of Master Koertan’s faction, and his status had been considerably hurt by the blowback from the dismal behavior of Master Koertan’s nephew, all leading back to Julie. He was hoping he would be able to fail her here, regaining at least some of his status.
When they finished their routine, Master Dharg led them on a path out away from the compound. They came to a somewhat open area with a section roped off. Master Dharg explained, obviously for Julie’s benefit, “The entire group will run through the following course, and only the top five times will go to the next level.” Looking directly at Julie, he went on, “Unfortunately for you, this is our last day to compete on this course. Your time for today will have to be your time for the competition.” He made it obvious that he didn’t expect her to pass.
He led her to a small cliff that looked down on the course, the monk equivalent of a military obstacle course. He then pointed out each of the obstacles of the course. “You must crawl through the brush at the beginning until you come to the stream below. You have to cross the stream on the logs, then re-cross the stream wading. Next cross the ravine on the other side of it by means of the rope bridge, swing back across the ravine on the vines. Next climb the embankment with the dangling ropes and back down the embankment on the other side. Finally you must cross the rolling bamboo logs, run across the field carrying one of the rocks, then back as fast as you can to the starting point.”
He handed her a bag. “Each step has a different color stone to pick up, which you must place in the bag and carry with you.”
He stood there looking at her for a moment. Julie could sense the disdain he apparently felt for her. “These are much more advanced students than you, so I don’t know why you are here. These men have been training for three months. And I’ll warn you, there are no rules as far as interactions between the contestants. If one of them trips you and passes you, it is entirely acceptable. If they knock you off the logs, you have to go back to the other side of the stream to start over.”
“Don’t worry,” Julie told him. “I can hold my own.”
“Ok, go wait with the others at the start line,” Master Dharg told her, an obvious smirk on his face. He didn’t expect her to do well, if she finished at all. He had carefully worked it out so he had this group for her to compete against for the course. They were all men he had chosen and he had told them to make sure she didn’t finish the course. He eagerly awaited the opportunity to gloat.
After Master Dharg led her to the starting point for the course, he told her, “A horn will signal indicating the start of the race.” He left her there, going over to speak with the handful of monks in charge of watching the course to prevent anyone from taking shortcuts. Each was assigned a spot on the course to watch. He made sure to tell them all to watch her closely.
Already irritated by Master Dharg, Julie couldn’t help but notice all of the men waiting were giving her decidedly unfriendly looks, some of them practically shooting daggers with their eyes. Julie looked them over too, trying to determine the ones that would be more problematic. One could only speak a little English, as he was speaking to another with some dialect with a few words of English buried in there. He was probably a bully, as big as he was, but Julie felt like he would be too slow to cause her any problems. The one that looked the most like trouble seemed to be the ringleader of several that stood off to the side of the group. He appeared to be extremely arrogant, but she knew even so he probably was actually a capable man. Otherwise, he would have alre
ady lost that in the monk training. Although he pretended to ignore her, Julie could feel the vibe that came off him. She would watch him carefully.
Finally, the monks were ready, Master Dharg taking his position between the start and finish lines. Ready to go, Julie took off the instant the horn sounded. She was so fast out of the start that she left most of the group behind, except the one that she expected would be the most trouble. She was also able to read his intent, so she was ready when he tried to trip her as they came out of the brush. When they started across the logs, she was not only ready, but beginning to get angry with him. She easily dodged what to her was a feeble attempt to knock her off, and just before he reached the edge, she gave him a shove of her own, sending him falling into the stream. Grabbing a stone from the pile there, she turned and waded back across the stream.
Another one of them was waiting there for her, but Julie easily dodged him, giving him an elbow as she passed to knock him into the water. Again she grabbed a stone. When she came to the rope bridge she expected more problems, so she had her elbows ready and used them judiciously to clear her path, rushing across before they could recover. She grabbed that stone and was swinging back across an instant later, using her feet to knock out of the way the one who tried to oppose her there.
The last man didn’t get back up, so suddenly Julie was alone. She easily completed the remaining obstacles, climbing the embankment in seconds and simply jumping to the ground on the other side, rolling to maintain her momentum. She crossed the rolling logs as if they were standing still, since to her brain they were moving so slowly. When she picked up the large rock, it felt as if it weighed nothing at all. Finally she was sprinting back to the start, easily dodging the rocks that two of the others threw at her. Laughing, she ran even faster, so that to the onlookers she seemed almost a blur. As she came to the finish line, she slapped the tape in front of her, the sound almost as loud as a rifle shot.
Master Dharg could not believe she had finished so quickly. Her time was by far the fastest time ever recorded on the course. His face filled with anger, he demanded to see her stones. He had to find a way to disqualify her or his plan would fail miserably.
Of course, Julie was glad to comply. She was still almost giddy with the exhilaration of completing the course. She had made sure she got them all.
Master Dharg stared at the stones. He had to find a way to challenge her. Whatever he was going to say next, he wisely didn’t, as Master Kash suddenly appeared beside him. So instead he bowed and said, “Master, it appears we have a new record time. I was just checking the stones, so I could ensure it was accurate.”
“Yes, we do not want any mistakes to be made,” the Master told him. He smiled at Julie and bowed to her, master to accepted student. To his other sight, Julie was glowing in an almost blinding light, and he pitied the other monk who he knew had been about to challenge her. He was obviously blind to what was before him, because to challenge her right now would probably have been fatal. The Master did not want her to have to deal with that yet. It would happen soon enough he knew, where she would have to use her skills to kill.
Julie bowed back to him, pleased student to high master. “Master, it occurs to me that this course would be better taught as a cooperative venture instead of a competition. Many of the others would have finished much earlier if they had not been so intent on stopping me. If this had been a fight against a foe, I fear the team would have lost.”
“I do believe you are correct. Yes, that is exactly what we will do.” He gave Julie another smile and then his composure darkened slightly. Julie wondered what he was seeing. “Walk with me, dear child.”
He led Julie back down the path toward the compound. “Your next step is the competition to become a full monk. You will train for the rest of the week, and the competition will begin next week. You will find the competition to be easy. But you must be careful, for the path you must travel is not without peril. There will be those who oppose you entering the competition, and they will attempt to prevent it at any cost.”
“I understand, Master.” Julie told him. He had basically told her to expect to be attacked at any moment. “Are not those things that are important worth striving for at some cost?” she told him. “I will be ready.”
The Master nodded. “Yes, I know, dear one. I am actually more afraid that it is the others that are not ready. But whatever will be, will be.” He refused to tell her anything more, but Julie was comforted by his presence. When they reached the compound, he suddenly vanished! Julie could never get used to that.
#
The next few days went by quickly. Jerrem and one other of her group of accelerated candidates passed the two tests to be eligible for the competition. Her mornings with her meditation and Mama Kash’s group continued to be very pleasant, and their “dance” had become more and more complex, but still filled with joy.
After lunch, it was now just the three of them from their group. The three took turns sparring with each other. The area they were working in was being used by all the candidate monks preparing for the competition, so after her warning from the Master, Julie kept a close eye on them. Three of them in particular made her feel very uneasy, the guys making comments out loud about how she shouldn’t be there. The first couple of days passed without a problem, so she had finally relaxed a little bit. Unfortunately that was a mistake.
Julie had learned that the monks had an advanced target range that she could use with her throwing knives, but she hadn’t had the chance to go check it out. She made the mistake of mentioning it to Jerrem as they were finishing up their normal workout.
“We’ve got to go try it,” he told her. “We both need to work on our throwing. You need to find out what is your limit and I need to work on my technique. I have made a lot of progress, but I still have to keep practicing to get my level up.”
Julie was hesitant to accept, but looking around, she didn’t see her group of troublemakers. “Oh, why not? You’re right that we both need to work on it, and we may not get another chance.”
The two of them followed a path out to the area. It turned out to be considerably further out than they had realized it would be, almost on the other side of the island. Once at the range, Julie worked on the furtherest targets, which were a challenge to her because they were at the extreme limit of her range. She really had to concentrate and lost track of the time. It was late enough that the light was fading by the time they started back.
Going back toward the compound, Julie told her companion about her experience in ordering her knives from the master armorer. “You should order yours as soon as you can,” she told him. “I got the impression that he stays pretty busy. But I also had the feeling that he is the best in the business, and you will definitely want a set that you can call your own.”
“Yes, I know I need to do it. I should be able to get away in a few weeks. I intend to make that my first destination, even before I go to see my family. At least they live in Hong Kong too, so I can make it all in one visit.”
Even though she was distracted by their conversation, Julie knew something was not right. The sounds of the animals along their path had gone completely silent. She suspected she knew what that meant. The three men she had been watching were waiting up ahead. Coming to a little clearing in the path, she held up her hand to halt their progress. She didn’t see any way to avoid what was coming!
#
Julie knew that she should be frightened, but she wasn’t. She was more angry than anything else and afraid of what she might do because of that anger. Would she ever get beyond this battle within herself?
She told Jerrem, “Listen to me a moment. The three men that I have been worried about are up ahead. I need you to go get help. I’m afraid this may get ugly.”
Jerome hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave her. Finally, Julie told him, “I’m going to try to talk to them. Hopefully I can stall long enough for you to get help.” She didn’t really believe that, but she
didn’t want him to get caught up in it and get hurt.
Julie could tell that Jerrem didn’t completely believe her either, but finally he nodded. “Ok. We’re not really that far away from the compound, so I will be back as soon as I can.”
As they had been talking, the three men had come to the other side of the clearing. They completely ignored Jerrem, so he was able to slip around them. Julie could see him breaking into a run as he left the clearing, but she knew he wouldn’t be back in time to stop what was coming.
Seeing her waiting for them, the leader of the group laughed. “Look what we have here. The little girl mouse thinks she has teeth. We need to put her in her place and send her back home where she belongs.”
Knowing she was wasting her breath, but knowing she had to try, Julie told them, “Guys, you must not do this. You don’t understand. I will defend myself, and I can’t promise not to hurt you badly, because you leave me no choice.”
That just made them laugh even harder, and they kept coming toward her. Julie knew that with three against her, and all of them intending her harm, when the fighting started she would have no choice but to give it her all. She tried dropping deeper into her mental relaxation, but she knew she was still moving way too fast and would be hitting too hard.
The leader at least led by example, although foolishly, and he came toward her first. She didn’t have time to hold back, or the others would reach her before she finished him off, so she took him out with one kick to the groin, dropping him to the ground with a moan as he curled into the fetal position. She could tell he was hurt badly enough that he would be out for the next few minutes. After that, it wouldn’t matter.
To Julie, every movement from the men was in slow motion. She easily blocked the second one’s punch and rolled his feet out from under him with a kick, then moved to block the last man’s punches and kicks. The second was barely beginning to rise when she took him out with a kick to the head. She did manage to hold back on it a little bit, but he would have quite a headache she suspected. He didn’t get back up.
