Heart of Defiance

by Ryan Kirk

  Tree branches snapped at him as he galloped past. Some bent, some broke, and others tore through his robes and flesh. He couldn’t keep focused on both riding and avoiding attacks.

  He didn’t want to fight the monks, but he was running out of options. Distracted by the monks behind him, he almost ran headfirst into Hien, who had brought her horse to a halt.

  “We can move faster on foot,” she said. “The woods are becoming too thick.”

  Delun didn’t argue. They slid off their horses and ran.

  In the monastery, Delun had run frequently. Like all other aspects of physicality, he believed in being ready for any occasion, even if that meant pushing himself to his limits on occasion. So he took to his feet lightly, following Hien’s blistering pace without a problem.

  For a moment, he stared in amazement as he watched Hien. She moved as fast as any monk he had ever met, as fast as anyone he’d ever met. In his entire life, he’d never met anyone like her. She was a remarkable woman.

  More attacks blasted near them, but none found their target. So far, the woods had provided enough cover, but Delun didn’t know how long it would last. Behind them, he could hear the shouts of the monks.

  “You can hide,” he gasped to Hien as they ran. “They can only track me and my power.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you behind. You might be the best chance at stopping this madness.”

  Delun almost laughed when he realized she didn’t understand. “I’m not suggesting you leave me behind. I’m suggesting you ambush them.”

  She glanced back at him. “You want to fight?”

  “No other choice. With my strength, they’ll track me too easily.”

  She thought for a second, then nodded. She looked around and darted off into the brush, disappearing after only a moment. Delun was a little surprised. He’d expected that she’d agree, but thought that maybe they would discuss it a bit more. Now he felt truly like bait, caught in a trap.

  As he felt the powers behind him, he realized he wasn’t wrong. The monks had separated and were trying to encircle him. He wished he had a way to warn Hien, but that time had come and gone. She was on her own.

  Without warning, one of the monks suddenly vanished from his awareness. Hien had found one. The loss of pursuit elated him, but the knowledge of what that victory had cost left him feeling hollow.

  Delun focused on a pair of monks, their progress slowed by the sudden loss of their brother. Before they could react, Delun was on them, attacking with his own signs.

  For a few seconds, waves of energy blasted back and forth, Delun abandoning the idea of forming shields in exchange for using trees as cover. He signed and released as fast as he could, driving the two monks back with the ferocity of his assault.

  They defended themselves well against his onslaught. Attacks cracked against trees, ripped branches from trunks, and sent leaves flying everywhere. Delun relied less on sight and more on feel to find his targets.

  He thought he might be able to drive them off. Strong as they were, they’d never faced a series of attacks from someone so dedicated to surviving. And he was still the strongest in the forest.

  His optimism lasted until one of the monks had the good sense to cast a powerful shield around both him and his brother.

  In the battle of energies, sometimes all that was necessary to change the course of the battle was a second to catch one’s breath. Delun had hoped to prevent that, but he’d been stymied. The monk put everything into his shield, preventing Delun from breaking through easily. Safely inside the shield, the other monk gathered his energy.

  Delun knew at that moment he was in trouble. The shield dropped as powerful energy struck at him. Caught off-guard, the first one hit him in the shoulder, punching him back and sending him rolling. He felt his shoulder dislocate from the blast. The second one passed harmlessly over his head.

  Now the two monks worked in unison, and he was down an arm. He’d hoped to destroy their teamwork, but his success had only been temporary. Now one held the shield ready to cast while the other attacked.

  To make matters worse, there was still the problem of the third monk, now coming up behind him. The third monk’s arrival would spell his doom.

  Where was Hien?

  As soon as he had the thought, an arrow streaked by him, taking one of the pair of monks in the chest. The monk looked down in surprise as dark blood spread over his robes. He looked to his friend in disbelief.

  His friend shared the same look. He’d been holding the shield in expectation of Delun’s attack. But there was no sensing an arrow. Just in time, the monk realized the danger he was in, throwing up his shield as another arrow came at him.

  Delun saw the look of rage pass over the monk’s face. It was the look of a man pushed too far. In a normal man, the look was frightening. In a monk, it made Delun’s knees quake.

  Delun’s terror was well-founded. The monk gave a throat-ripping scream, focusing all his energy into a single attack.

  The monk made it to the third sign, and Delun swore as he felt the energy gather. The monk was holding nothing back, and rage amplified his already considerable energy. Delun signed a shield as the monk released his energy.

  Hien chose a poor time to launch another arrow at the monk. It was caught by the wave of energy and flung back, moving even faster than when launched. Delun threw up his shield, covering himself just as the attack struck.

  Delun grunted from the effort, but in the end, he was stronger than the other monk. No matter how the other monk might struggle, he couldn’t get past Delun’s defenses.

  In a moment, the monk dropped to the ground, his breathing heavy. He’d spent everything.

  Delun had seen that before, too. If the monk didn’t get help soon, he would die. Too much energy had been released. The body and mind could only handle so much.

  “Delun.”

  He turned around to see Hien for the first time since they’d separated. She looked pale and unwell. When he looked at her, he quickly saw why. The last arrow she launched had been sent back at her, and it was embedded deeply in her side. She had fallen down beside him, curled around the arrow. It didn’t look like it had struck any major organs, but blood loss and infection would be equally dangerous.

  Delun stepped toward her when he realized there was still a monk nearby. He stopped and turned, focused on the last surviving monk. The monk never even came close enough to see. Instead, he ran the other way. No doubt, the monk would tell Guanyu what happened. Delun would be labeled a traitor to the monasteries. Delun considered chasing the monk, but decided against it. What good would it do? He didn’t want to kill the monk, and Hien needed attention. Guanyu would brand him a traitor no matter his actions.

  Should he even save her?

  She had killed his brothers.

  But she was the only one who would vouch for him to Lei to prevent the murder of others.

  As he knelt down next to her, he realized that wasn’t the entire truth, though.

  When he looked at Hien, all he could think was that he wanted her to live.

  27

  An unusual sense of peace settled over Bai as she walked down the path from Lei’s village to Galan. Her courage surprised her. Though she walked to her death, her heart barely beat faster no matter how close they came to the meeting spot.

  She noticed other changes as well. Walking down a mountain was never as difficult as walking up one, but there was a spring in her step she’d never had before, a slight bounce that was new to her. She could feel the energy coursing through her body. Granted, she let most of it return back to nature, its potential untapped, but she felt connected to everything in a way she never had before.

  Beside her, Lei walked in silence. She could almost feel his thoughts, his face was so unguarded. They had argued plenty in the past few days. They still didn’t agree, but at long last he had consented to accompany her. Despite her courage, she didn’t care to make the journey alone.

&
nbsp; “Are you sure you won’t reconsider?” Lei asked.

  Bai smiled. He’d lasted nearly half a mile this time before his control broke.

  “What else is there to say, Lei? You know my mind.”

  They walked for a few seconds in silence before Lei came up with a new approach. “It feels like surrender.”

  “Sometimes surrender is better than fighting.”

  She wondered how much she meant that. The old Bai would have believed the statement with her whole heart. Now, she was less sure. She didn’t want to turn herself in, but she also didn’t see a better path. There was enough blood on her hands already. If she refused, it wasn’t just her life that was in danger, but the lives of those who had nothing to do with her fight.

  Once she had considered ending her own life. Now the questioner could do it for her.

  “I don’t like it,” Lei said. “There’s always another way. We just haven’t figured it out yet.”

  Bai shook her head. “I’ll gladly listen to any suggestion, but we’ve already taken all the time we had to think.”

  Lei acknowledged the point. It was the evening of the third day. They’d debated options endlessly, but the results remained the same. Bai had made her peace with it. Lei hadn’t.

  She knew all his arguments by heart. He believed she was vital to the monasteries, that she would unlock doors that had been closed for centuries. Her life was more valuable than she believed.

  Bai appreciated the thought, but didn’t agree. She couldn’t be the only one with her gifts. Others just hadn’t been discovered yet. Perhaps it would be years, but the time would come. She wasn’t that special.

  They reached the boulders the questioner had suggested, finding them unoccupied. Lei settled onto the rocks, but his posture still reminded her of a giant cat. He might look relaxed, but he would have his sword out in a moment if needed.

  “There’s still time,” he muttered.

  His insistence began to grate on her nerves. They’d spent three days searching for a better way, but every idea resulted in the deaths of others. Lei knew it as well as she did. “Please stop, Lei. This is hard enough as it is.”

  He grimaced and bowed his head quickly in apology. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” she said. “It means more than you know that you care. But if you care, I need your support, now more than ever.”

  The sun had fallen behind the mountains, but the sky was still light. Bai had always enjoyed this time of day, when the colors were muted but the world hadn’t yet slipped into night.

  As the light faded, Bai began to worry. They had agreed to meet the questioner here, out of town, but there was no sign of the man. What would it mean if he didn’t show? Would her willingness to sacrifice herself amount to nothing?

  And yet the time continued to pass and still no sign of him. Bai glanced over at Lei, who clearly wondered the same. “He didn’t seem the type of man to miss a meeting,” Lei observed.

  Bai bit her lip. She couldn’t think of what else to do besides sit and wait. The questioner could appear at any moment, and she needed to be here when he did.

  Soon the sky was perfectly dark, and the stars twinkled brightly overhead. Bai’s worry increased. Had they shown up too late?

  “What should we do?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Lei responded. “If this is still your desired course of action, I recommend we wait for a few more hours. Then we can make the hike back to the village as the sun rises.”

  Bai nodded and dared to hope. What if the questioner had decided on another course of action? Perhaps she could be free.

  At least an hour passed and Bai felt the tension growing inside her. Before long, she was standing and pacing, waiting for anything to happen. Lei watched her for a few minutes before standing himself. “There’s no reason we can’t at least train a bit while we’re here.”

  Bai looked around. “Are you certain that’s wise, this close to town?”

  “We don’t need to spar.”

  Lei had them stand ten paces apart from one another. “Close your eyes.”

  Once he was sure she had, he said, “Now, focus on me. Can you sense the way I move energy around my body?”

  Bai took a deep breath, trying to find the place of mental calm from which she could perform the tasks Lei asked of her. She relaxed the tension in her body, allowing her muscles to soften. As soon as her breath was easy, she felt Lei’s presence.

  It was more than that, though. She felt his presence acutely. Before, she had noticed him like a pressure near the back of her head. Now she could picture him, the energy coursing through him, right in front of her. He was a beacon of light in the darkness. She could feel the way energy traveled between him and the ground he walked on.

  “I can feel you,” she said.

  “Good. Now, where is my energy focused?”

  She saw the energy shift inside him. “In your legs.”

  The amount of the shift wasn’t great. Unlike her, Lei had trouble directing his energies internally. She found it a simple matter to direct her energy to any part of her body. Lei fought for weak results.

  They continued. Lei formed the different attacks and shields and asked her to identify them, not by sight, but by feel. She didn’t find the task particularly challenging, but it required all her attention. She lost track of time, abandoning herself in the practice.

  Bai felt the presence first. It was faint, but had the feel of a fire off in the distance. Though it only felt like a small spark to her, she imagined it was a raging inferno up close. “Do you feel that?”

  “No.”

  Bai opened her eyes, breaking her concentration, the memory an afterimage on her sight. “Someone is coming, someone strong.”

  Lei frowned, lines of concern etched on his face. “You’re sure?”

  She nodded.

  “How many?”

  “Just one.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Lei whispered. Bai wasn’t sure if he had intended to be heard or not.

  “What direction?” he asked.

  She pointed to Galan. “Past town, I think.”

  “That’s a long way away to sense someone. Let’s check it out.” He stepped forward, only stopping when Bai didn’t follow. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t leave this rock.”

  Lei looked like he was about to argue, but when he saw her face, he stopped. “I’m sorry, I forgot.” He looked toward Galan and Bai could see the curiosity and concern on his face. “Let’s see if your gift can uncover more.”

  They ran through the previous practice again. They calmed their breaths and focused their minds. Bai used Lei as a jumping off point, focusing first on his energy.

  It didn’t take her long to feel the other monk. His fire blazed bright, even at this distance.

  But he wasn’t alone. The large fire was being pursued by other flickering flames, like moths drawn toward light. She counted six, she thought.

  She was so focused, she felt when they began attacking one another. Her eyes opened wide as her heart raced. Monks were fighting. Had Yang been found?

  But Yang wasn’t that strong. From her limited experience, few were. The monk being chased was closer to Lei’s strength than those of the monks who chased him.

  Lei’s eyes were open, too. “I felt the attack.”

  Bai nodded mutely.

  She thought she had a sense of the distance between them now. She stood about a twenty-minute walk from Galan. The lead monk had just entered town on the other side.

  Bai felt some of her worst fears become real.

  Galan had become the site of a battle between monks.

  28

  If Hien hadn’t been so stubborn, Delun would have picked her up. Despite her protests, he was certain that he could move faster carrying her than helping her support her own weight.

  But Hien was nothing if not proud, and she had expressly forbidden his attempts to pick her up. In the end, it was faste
r to lend his arm than to fight her. She’d even helped him pop his shoulder back into place, as though she was the healer and he the patient.

  As they neared the outskirts of Galan, the wisdom of Hien’s insistence made itself clear. He could feel the six monks behind him gaining quickly on their horses. He would need his strength.

  As he had feared, the monastery had sent more warriors after them. Guanyu had no plans to let him escape.

  Delun wished his journey hadn’t turned out this way. He wished they could have kept their horses and not had to walk half the distance to Galan. He wished Hien hadn’t been pierced with her own arrow. More than anything, he wished he didn’t have to choose between the monasteries and the empire.

  He didn’t want it to be too late.

  But perhaps it already was.

  Monks who had pursued him out of Kulat were dead. There was no avoiding that truth.

  Guanyu wouldn’t listen to a word he said, now.

  He’d fought against his brothers, and while he hadn’t killed one yet, he’d stood by while they died. If this fight continued, he’d have to choose, and that decision would mean the death of his brothers, possibly at his hands.

  His stomach twisted at the idea. In all his years, he’d never considered he’d have to fight monks. How did he choose between the empire and the monasteries, his two homes?

  He could feel the choice barreling toward him like an angry boar. He could only avoid it for so long before he had to plant his feet on one side or the other.

  That moment felt closer than ever as Galan came into view. He glanced over at Hien, who somehow remained on her feet. If she’d looked bad a day ago, she looked like walking death now. Her skin was pale and her steps uneven. Despite their best efforts at bandaging the wound, it continued to leak. She refused to rest, refused to let Delun lead their pursuers astray. Whatever chased them, they faced together.

  Delun found her noble but foolish.

  The sight of Galan gave them a boost of energy. They were close, the end of their journey finally in sight.

  But the monks were close, too, and gaining every moment. Given how far away Delun had sensed them, they were strong.