Heart of Defiance

by Ryan Kirk

  Delun released his shield in time, but it was a thin defense against the combined powers arrayed against him. Kang stood among the attackers, and his strength alone almost cracked Delun’s shield. Delun grimaced as he felt the pressure building, like being buried under boulder after boulder. He struggled to breathe, fought to expand his chest and bring in air.

  He only had another second or two. Once his shield dropped, the attacks would crush his bones into dust. He wasn’t sure there would be enough of him left to bury.

  Suddenly, Bai emerged from the trees and crashed into the line of monks. She dropped into the heart of the line, passing through their shields without problem. She was so fast, Delun could barely follow her movements.

  Suddenly, the pressure against him nearly disappeared. As Delun came to his senses, he saw that several of the monks were on the ground. Two of them didn’t look like they’d be getting up again, their heads at unnatural angles.

  Delun knew Bai’s strength. He remembered his fight with her all too well. But she was getting more comfortable with her power, and she really didn’t like monks.

  Behind the line, farther away from Delun, he felt an immense power gathering.

  Now he understood how Guanyu had become the abbot of the monastery. Like Lei and Bai, he could draw power in from sources beyond himself. Against Delun’s sense, he glowed like a second sun. A sun whose energy was becoming condensed and focused.

  Kang and the remaining monks seemed to have the right idea. They scattered away from the road, finding cover in the forest.

  Bai, so new to her power and so confident, didn’t even think to avoid the attack.

  Guanyu kept focusing his energy, bringing it to a point no bigger than a man’s thumb. Delun cursed again. There was only one attack that strong, one that hadn’t been seen in combat for over twenty years.

  The Dragon’s Fang.

  Delun didn’t know how Bai’s gifts worked, but there was no way she could absorb that attack. No one could.

  He yelled, tried to warn her, tried to convince her to get out of the way. But she stood there, as stubborn and proud as the oldest of monks. He wanted to force her to the side, but she was too far away. There was nothing he could do in time.

  As guilty as he felt, he had only one avenue of action open to him. He dove to the side, out of the way of the attack. He expected it to cut through Bai, and he didn’t want to be in its way.

  Guanyu released the attack, cutting through the air toward Bai like an arrow to its target. The abbot’s aim was true, and the attack burrowed deep into Bai.

  It was a testament to her strength that the technique didn’t blow a hole through her torso. She stood there, somehow absorbing the tremendous energies. To Delun’s senses she began glowing brighter and brighter, the power unbearable even to look at.

  Delun couldn’t tear his eyes away, though. He’d traveled the empire nearly from edge to edge and destroyed rebellions both serious and foolish. He thought he’d seen almost all there was to see, but this was something outside of his experience, outside even his imagination. The powers and abilities at play blasted his comprehension away.

  Somehow, Guanyu found even more power. A normal man, even a trained monk, would have exhausted himself several times over by now. But the Dragon’s Fang continued.

  And somehow, despite all the odds, Bai stood.

  Delun waited for her body to disintegrate into ash, to simply cease to exist. The powers within her were greater than any human body could handle.

  Then it was over. The Dragon’s Fang ended, and Bai still stood, the air around her shimmering with the latent energy she’d absorbed.

  Bai screamed, an earth-shattering, piercing yell that broke Delun’s heart. He’d never heard such pain before.

  Beyond Bai, Guanyu’s eyes were wide. Delun thought the abbot looked like he’d spent everything he had on the attack.

  Still, Bai’s body held far too much energy.

  He saw her right hand come up, making the sign for the first attack. She started to release the power, sending the attack harmlessly into the sky, but it was too little, too late.

  The air around Bai contracted, and Delun knew what was coming. He dove to the ground and signed the second shield, trying to dig himself as deeply as possible into the ground.

  A second later, the world around him exploded.

  35

  Bai woke up in the middle of her worst nightmare.

  Her head hurt, every heartbeat sending a fresh wave of pain down her neck and spine. She struggled to breathe, as though a boulder lay on her chest and she couldn’t move it.

  She had been here before.

  As she came to awareness, a creeping dread washed over the pain.

  Not again.

  Light flickered in the corner of her vision. She glanced over and saw a man sitting next to a fire. He seemed familiar, but it took a moment for his name to return.

  Delun.

  With his name, dozens of other memories flooded her. He had been attacked by the monks and she had jumped in. She’d fought the monks and hurt a few of them. It had been easy.

  Then she’d been hit with the other monk’s attack.

  From there, her memory failed her. It was as black as the deepest cave.

  That, too, was horribly familiar.

  She groaned, and Delun was by her side in a moment. “How are you?”

  Bai couldn’t get her mouth to work. Everything hurt and she felt drained. She wasn’t sure which prevented her from speaking. Delun, thankfully, didn’t seem to need her words. He returned to the fire and removed a small pot. He knelt again by her side and held her head up as he ladled some of the soup into her mouth.

  Bai had never tasted anything more wonderful. The warm liquid coated her sore throat. After a few sips, she managed to chew some of the rice and vegetables inside. Exhausted by the effort, she lay back down.

  Delun looked at her with concern but didn’t say anything. Bai was grateful for his silence. She needed the time to think.

  Calmer now, and with a bit of strength from the soup, Bai looked around. They were in the middle of a collection of downed trees. Something about their camp seemed unnatural, but Bai couldn’t put her finger on what.

  “What happened?” she croaked.

  Delun stirred the fire with a stick, moving the coals around aimlessly. “How much do you remember?”

  “I remember the fight, and being attacked by that one monk.”

  Delun jabbed at the coals. Bai sensed frustration in the movement.

  “That was Guanyu,” he said. “He’s the abbot of the monastery, and much, much stronger than I expected.”

  Bai noticed the hint of failure in Delun’s voice.

  “You took a hit that should have killed you,” Delun continued. He saw her expression and stopped her. “Yes, even you. I’ve never felt anything like that attack. Even you should have died several times over. I think you knew, near the end. You tried to release the power, but you had absorbed too much, too fast.”

  He left the rest unspoken.

  Bai’s stomach hardened to a rock. With a grunt, she pushed herself to her elbow and looked around. All the trees nearby had fallen in the same direction. She guessed if she followed their accusing trunks, she would find the place where she’d stood, a small patch of undisturbed ground among the destruction.

  She had done it again.

  “Who did I hurt?”

  Delun threw his stick into the fire, watching it slowly catch. “I think you killed two monks in your initial attack. But I don’t think your blast killed anyone. I was the closest, and I managed to shield myself. The monks were further away and were escaping as I came to. There were too many of them for me to attack, so I let them run and attended to you instead.”

  Bai accepted the news calmly. She was glad she hadn’t hurt any innocents this time.

  Delun turned the questions back to her. “Now, how do you feel?”

  “Like someone threw me off a cliff
.”

  “Not bad for someone who should be dead.”

  Bai gave a bitter laugh. She enjoyed Delun’s perspective. “So, what happens next?”

  “That depends on you. After this little skirmish, I’m less certain than ever that I can approach the monastery on my own. But you’ve been out for hours, and you look like death.”

  “Thanks.” An idea occurred to her. “May I borrow some of your energy?”

  “Are you certain that’s wise?”

  Bai gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. But it seems worth trying.”

  Delun didn’t look nearly as certain about that, but he gave his consent. Bai closed her eyes, feeling his strength. She decided to pull just a little to start.

  A few seconds later, she heard a gasp. “Bai!”

  She opened her eyes to see the panic on Delun’s face. His mouth moved, but no words came out.

  Panicked, Bai cut off the connection, and Delun toppled to the ground. When he looked at her, he looked furious. “You almost killed me!”

  A protest was on Bai’s lips, but she paused and reached out with her sense. She could barely feel Delun. Her mouth dropped open. “I’m sorry! I only tried to take a little.”

  Delun struggled to a sitting position. His eyes were wary. “Is that true?”

  “I swear it. I thought it was only a trickle!”

  She realized with a start that most of her pain and exhaustion had faded. It had worked. She stood up and took a few tentative hops. Her body felt sore in places, but she felt otherwise fine.

  Delun shook his head. He whispered something under his breath, but Bai didn’t catch it. “Sorry?”

  He looked ashamed for a moment. “Your skills are remarkable.” He paused and looked around. “We should rest for the night. No matter how good you feel, there’s no substitute for sleep. And I don’t have your ability to simply pull in energy. I’ll need the time to recover. In the morning, we go to Kulat and attack the monastery.”

  He watched Bai closely. “Your ability to adapt seems to be increasing. But your body can only take so much. You will need to be even more careful in the city. Do you understand?”

  Bai nodded, looking around the forest from a standing position for the first time. For hundreds of paces, trees were flattened, cracked, and broken. The damage was far worse than in Galan. She imagined the scene in the middle of Kulat and felt sick. She’d never let that happen.

  She thought about the trials that lay ahead. As frightened as she was, she welcomed the challenge. She finished her bowl of soup, then lay down and fell asleep instantly.

  Bai listened to the thunder in the distance. A storm was coming in from the north, lightning already spiking against the sky. Such summer storms were often fierce. She and Delun walked quickly, trying to find a balance between covering distance and maintaining their energy for the fight to come.

  She felt strangely calm. The dangers in front of her were more real than ever before, but she felt ready.

  She thought of her mother, wondering what the woman would think of her now. Would she feel proud, or would she feel disappointed her daughter had ignored so much of her advice?

  Delun grunted, bringing her attention to the present. Kulat was in sight. “Do you sense anything?”

  She quested forward but found nothing.

  Delun understood before she did. “They don’t have their guards on the roads anymore.” His voice was suddenly filled with fear. “We might be too late.”

  The monk began running, leaving Bai little choice but to follow along. She allowed energy to flow into her, giving her the strength and stamina to match Delun’s pace. They passed into Kulat without challenge. Several people turned away from Delun’s white robes, but there was no reaction otherwise.

  Delun held up a hand. “There’s no need for both of us to check what’s happening. We’ll need horses. Can you find your way to the monastery? As long as you don’t draw power, they are less likely to sense you.”

  Bai didn’t come to Kulat often, but she’d been here enough to find the enormous building. She nodded.

  “I’ll get horses and bring them to the monastery. You find out if the monks are still there. If we’re too late, we can try to catch them.”

  Delun ran off. Bai continued toward the monastery. She didn’t believe what she sensed, but she got closer until there could be no doubt.

  Delun’s fears were confirmed. Though the gates were shut, Bai could only sense two or three monks on the grounds. She inquired at a few nearby houses and learned the monks had left early that morning, before the sun had risen. Either they had forced Guanyu into moving earlier than he intended, or the approaching army was already close enough for the monks to move on them.

  She didn’t have long to wait before Delun thundered up on an enormous warhorse. He extended his hand toward her. “I’m sorry, but I assumed you didn’t know how to ride.”

  She appreciated his thought. She’d never ridden a horse before. Grabbing his hand, she climbed up and held on tight to him as he turned the horse around and led it away. Within the narrow confines of the city, they couldn’t ride fast, and Bai took the time to tell Delun what she had learned.

  She felt a stab of guilt. If not for her need to recover, they could have made it the night before and stopped the monks before they left. Now, she worried they might be too late.

  Delun’s fears echoed her own. “We must trust in the questioner. Perhaps he managed to slow them, or stop them completely.”

  The hope felt thin to Bai. If the questioner had stopped the army, wouldn’t the monks still be within their walls?

  Once they passed the outskirts of Kulat, Delun kicked the horse into a gallop. At first, Bai held on, terrified. She’d ridden on plenty of carts before, but this horse was alive, its weight constantly shifting underneath her. It seemed unnatural.

  In time, she began to relax, understanding the constant minute adjustments needed to stay balanced. The ground flew underneath them, and Bai marveled in the sheer freedom of the speed. She’d never moved so quickly in her life. Her relaxation melted into joy, and she threw back her head and laughed.

  If Delun wondered at her behavior, he had the wisdom not to question her. He pushed the horse faster, driven by the fear they’d be too late.

  As they rode, the storm caught up with them. It began as a light sprinkle, the small drops of rain cutting like sharp needles against Bai’s face. Within minutes, the sprinkle became a heavy rain, the air cooling noticeably as the storm moved in. Small hailstones followed. Bai looked for shelter.

  Delun didn’t slow. He cast a shield over them and kicked the tiring horse again. Bai looked up and grinned with delight as hailstones smacked against the shield and bounced off. Combined with the rain streaming around the bubble, Bai could actually see Delun’s shield. It kept them dry as they charged through the rain.

  Her delight caught in her throat when she sensed what was ahead of them. She spoke in Delun’s ear. “Can you feel that?”

  He shook his head.

  “There’s a fight. A big one.”

  Delun swore and pushed the poor horse even harder. Bai leaned over, wondering how much farther it could travel before it gave out. As they neared, she could feel the battle more clearly. Delun tensed up, and she knew he felt it too.

  She’d never felt so much power in one place. She couldn’t keep track of the number of people attacking and shielding, but they all seemed to be facing in one direction.

  The battle had already started.

  Delun’s worst fears had come true.

  They were too late.

  36

  Delun held on tightly to the reins as he guided the beast toward the battle. The animal must have had some sense of the danger ahead, because Delun could feel the tension underneath him. If given half a chance, the horse would spook in any direction except the one they were going.

  He understood. Bai could feel the fight in front of them better than he could, but she didn’t understand
the significance. Lifetimes had passed since anything like this had happened. Monks very rarely fought in numbers, and they had never turned on the empire’s forces before. No one alive had ever sensed anything like this.

  Though they were approaching close enough for Delun to feel individual attacks, the battle reminded him more of waves crashing against a rock wall. His travels had brought him to the great sea to the north, where he’d stood on a cliff as the water boomed against the rock below. The day he visited had been relatively calm, but locals had told him that on stormy days, it wasn’t unusual for the waves to send water sixty feet in the air.

  That same power and intensity now stood before him. He could feel the shields held in front of the monks, protecting them from harm as wave after wave of attacks broke against the empire’s armies. They weren’t close enough yet to see the conflict, but Delun’s imagination ran rampant. Against the coordinated power of the monks, he didn’t see how the empire stood a chance. Even with Lord Xun’s men outnumbering the monks dozens to one, the battle couldn’t be even.

  Trees rushed by them on either side as they galloped, silent witnesses to the tragedy ahead. They rounded a bend and found themselves confronted by pure madness.

  Lord Xun’s army stood in ranks on the road, prevented from large-scale maneuvers by the thick woods on either side. A group of nearly thirty monks stood in front of them, stopping thousands in their tracks. Bodies lay behind the monks, providing plenty of evidence the monks had been advancing into the ranks of the empire’s troops. Arrows were occasionally lit up by the lightning above, but they clattered helplessly against unwavering protection. Running his eyes over the bodies, Delun didn’t see a single white robe.

  How did anyone beat a group of monks who had trained together so often? Delun noticed that several monks were sharing shield duty, with three at a time holding the shields overhead, preventing arrows from raining down on them. Two held the signs for shields but didn’t release. Delun saw the reason soon enough.

  The monks would cast shields over everyone, completely protecting them. Most of the monks used the protection to prepare attacks. When everyone was ready, the monks would attack as one. Some unfortunate soldiers, pressed up against the shields, would charge, but be immediately killed or driven back by the overwhelming attacks. There was no gap for the soldiers to exploit.