by Dave Gross
I let my eyes slide slightly out of focus, envisioning the characters I had studied only last night in the Persimmon Court library. What I was about to attempt would seem preposterous to any wizard who had not encountered the mysteries of the riffle and flying scrolls as well as the promise of the metamagical gestures I used against Jade Tiger.
What I was about to attempt was improbable at best. Under the gaze of the princess and all of Dragon Temple, I dispensed with probabilities. I could succeed because the past year had been only one of many I had spent training my mind and body for this moment, never before realizing when this moment would come. And I would succeed because, in this moment, I willed it.
Also because, folded in a scrap of yellow paper within my sash, I had a drop of molasses.
On our second clash I added two more lines to the scratch on Kwan’s shoulder, and he pinked the flesh above my right eye. Kwan’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, but before he could guess my scheme, I completed the character I was drawing upon his skin.
Slow.
The released enchantment tingled on my fingers before gripping Kwan’s body. His feet hit the ground in a perfect landing, but his blade lagged as he returned it to the defensive.
I beat it aside and pinked him on the breast.
The judges failed to react.
I struck again.
Slowly, Kwan lowered his weapon and stepped back, conceding my victory. Still the judges did not move. They turned to Master Wu for direction.
Wu turned his reddened face to Master Li, whose venerable eyes were fixed on Jade Tiger. The eunuch returned the gaze with a mild, unreadable smile.
That smile told Master Li what I only now understood: I had been a pawn in a game I had never perceived.
Kwan bowed to me and then to the masters. “I am defeated.”
One of the judges knelt and bowed before Masters Wu and Li. “Masters, Brother Jeggare employed magic in a contest of swords.”
Brother Deming came from the stands to kneel before the masters. “Masters, in the second trials, students are encouraged to display their unique styles of combat.”
“Masters,” said the first judge. “It would be right to declare Jeggare First Brother in Magic, but surely not in Sword.”
Master Wu’s lips twitched. He wanted to speak, but he waited for the decision of his senior. Master Li remained quiet and introspective. A hush fell over the Cherry Court.
Behind his open fan, on which we saw the mischievous cubs, Jade Tiger whispered to the princess. At her solemn nod, he rose and broke the silence.
“Since Princess Lanfen shall bestow the Shadowless Sword upon the victor, it is appropriate that she decide.”
There could be no disputing the suggestion. Not even Master Li would desire to offend the daughter of the king. Following his lead, we all kowtowed before the princess.
She walked to the center of the courtyard and stood before me and Kwan. At her gesture, we raised our heads but remained on our knees.
“Brother Kwan,” she said. “Your courage and honor are unmatched.”
She turned to me. “Brother Jeggare, I declare you First Brother of Spell and Sword.”
Beside me, I felt an almost imperceptible slump in Brother Kwan’s posture. He was not truly defeated until that moment. But as I bowed to the princess and received the Shadowless Sword from her perfect hand, I glanced past her toward Jade Tiger. There was no mistaking the expression of surprise and anger on his face before he concealed it with his fan.
The ferocious face of a tiger stared back at me.
Chapter Twenty
Phantom Virgin
Judge Fang said I should go into Nanzhu while the others waited beside the cemetery.
The sad little Phoenix smoothed her feathers and stared at the sky. She hadn’t spoken since she landed on a fence the Goblin leaned on while we all watched smoke rise from a town Judge Fang called Khitai. The sight of the Phoenix’s beautiful cream and crimson plumage awed the rest of us to silence. When the Goblin saw we were staring above his head, he looked up, yelped and farted at the same time, and fled almost out of sight before returning in a sulk.
Judge Fang declared the Phoenix a good omen. He bowed to her and recited a speech about the importance of our mission. His speech grew longer every time he repeated it, and he enjoyed it more than anyone listening did.
Most of the beasts and kami he had approached turned down his request to join us in our march toward Iron Mountain for the Dragon Ceremony in spring. As winter approached, more and more did not even listen to the whole speech. The Phoenix listened to it all but said nothing.
Afterward, she followed wherever we went. She covered her head with a wing at the first snow. I think she missed the summer.
“Find out what has happened here,” Judge Fang told me. “No one in Nanzhu will mind a dog. The others would frighten the human beings.”
The Goblin puffed out his chest and stuck his thumbs under his arms. “One look at me, and they would evacuate the whole miserable town.”
Behind him, the Hopper squeaked. I still could not understand him, but Gust and the Whispering Spider laughed until the Goblin stomped off. Even the Phoenix raised her head at his remark.
The Fox brushed against me and whispered, “The Hopper is funny. Don’t you agree?”
The feel of her shoulder against my leg made me nervous. There was no reason to fear her. Even if we weren’t friends, I was bigger, even when she was one grown fox instead of nine little ones. She was the kind of animal smaller dogs might chase for their master. But when she lay beside me at night or put her muzzle close to mine, I was the one who felt like running away.
It was a relief to go into the town, but we had come for the cemetery. Judge Fang wanted to find three kami called the Dancing Courtesans who lived here.
When we reached the cemetery, however, the gate was shut. Judge Fang read a sign stating that the cemetery was closed until further notice. There was a ward on the sign, and we could not enter the grounds. Judge Fang said it was a weak magic. He could open the gate with the magic inside his bag, but it would take all day. In the meantime, he wanted me to find out what had happened.
There were other dogs in the town. Most of them walked beside their masters, but others roamed in small packs. They greeted me, and I greeted them. One strong-chested dog with a short coat and erect ears told me he was in charge of me. I gave him the big smile so he knew he was wrong.
I missed my friend Radovan. Outside the cemetery I caught a scent that reminded me of him after he’d caught on fire. I called out until workmen came and Judge Fang begged me to be quiet.
Even more than Radovan, I missed my master. It was taking a long time to gather our army, but Judge Fang said we could not go to Iron Mountain until spring. Judge Fang was wise, but he wasn’t as wise as my master.
There were many people in the streets of the town. Some of them cooked on fires beside the street. I took a big piece of hot goat meat from a spit, and the cook chased me until he saw two other dogs moving in to steal the rest.
Most of the people ignored me. I listened to their talk, but I could barely understand it. I knew who was angry or sad or sick, but their words did not make sense. Even though I understood more of what Judge Fang and the kami said, I preferred the way my master gave me jobs with a few words or hand signs.
Even if I didn’t understand it, I had a job now, so I tried to do it. I greeted people everywhere I went. Most of them were tired or hungry, and many were afraid, but their smells told me nothing about the cemetery.
I found a pair of dogs with thick manes sitting beside their master as he listened to a man wearing his arm in a sling and talking fast. Another man drew a picture while he talked.
“What has happened?” I asked after they greeted me.
“A o
ne-armed sorcerer came to town, challenging heroes to fight his devil. He offered gold to anyone who would try. They heard his devil had killed many heroes, so no one dared face the fiend. The one-armed man became angry and beat the men when they tried to chase him away.”
Burning Cloud Devil was a one-armed man. I had heard people call Radovan a devil.
“Where did the one-armed man go?”
“He turned into fire and flew away.”
Before leaving the market, I stole a plucked goose for the Fox. I wondered why I did that, because she could easily catch her own goose. What would she think if I brought it to her? Since I had the goose, I decided I might as well share it with everyone.
Judge Fang made a fire with magic and roasted the goose legs for the Goblin, but he took only a few blades of grass for himself. The Hopper ate only insects, and Gust ate nothing at all. The Fox and the Whispering Spider shared the rest of the goose. The Phoenix smoothed her feathers and settled down on the embers of the fire, soaking in their heat.
Judge Fang had already broken the wards. Even I could feel the absence of the magic, which had lifted my hackles earlier. The Hopper bounced impatiently beside the gate.
“The Dancing Courtesans are good kami who watch over the graves at night,” said Judge Fang. “They soothe the souls of the recently departed and leech away the sorrow of their mourners.”
“But they aren’t dangerous to us, right?” The Goblin tried to sound brave, but he was not the only one who was afraid of the cemetery. Gust kept still. The Spider pretended to be busy weaving a cloth out of her own silk, but her legs trembled.
“Not if we approach with respect. Leave it to me to present our plea.”
“Don’t worry,” said the Goblin. He grabbed the second goose leg and waved it. “You can recite your speech until the sun comes up for all I care.”
Judge Fang clicked his mandibles while he considered the Goblin’s tone.
“Very well.” Judge Fang flew up onto my shoulders and pointed through the gate with his tiny walking stick. “Let us seek the Dancing Courtesans.”
I went through the cemetery gate. The remains of the ward tickled my skin. Judge Fang spat as my fur went into his face again.
Inside was a little forest on a series of steep hills. The stones that had looked gray in the sunlight were blue and white under the quarter moon. Some had carvings of human faces, but most just had writing. Old sticks of incense jutted out of the ground near the stones, still pungent long after they had burned to the stem.
“How do the Dancing Courtesans appear?” asked the Whispering Spider. “Are they pretty?”
“They are supremely beautiful,” said Judge Fang. He sensed, as I did, that the Spider did not like this answer. “Their loveliness cannot compare with yours, however. They have shed their human features and appear now as bright lanterns, guiding the souls of the dead toward Pharasma’s Spire.”
“How virtuous.” The Spider made a sour face.
Gust swept through the trees above us, sending down a shower of brown leaves. There were few left in the branches. The Phoenix flew from tree to tree, moving ahead of us but never going out of sight.
The burning smell I noticed earlier was stronger inside the cemetery, but it was still faint. Whatever had made the smell was no longer here. As we moved deeper into the cemetery, I picked up other scents. Most were like the smell of many dead bodies, only weaker. Another was stronger but much worse. It stung my nose and made me blink my eyes.
“What is that stench?” The Goblin pinched his nose and looked around with suspicion.
The Hopper bounced up to the Goblin, snuffled, and leaped away with an alarmed squeak.
Gust laughed, but the others only smiled. I felt Judge Fang’s tiny hands grip my coat tighter.
I stopped. From somewhere near the center of the cemetery came a musical sound. Ahead of us, the Phoenix became still upon her branch. She lowered her head to listen. It was a melancholy sound that made me feel alone and afraid. Beside me, the Fox moved close, and I felt her shivering.
“Someone plays the flute,” said Judge Fang. “Let us see who.”
In the center of the cemetery stood a shrine with eight big pillars shaped like snakes. The lower parts of the pillars were scrubbed clean and white, but the higher parts and the roof had been burned black. On the floor of the shrine, light gray bricks contrasted with the darker old ones. The workmen had left a stack of bricks beside the path, and on it sat a ghost in a gown as fine and white as the Spider’s silk.
In her hands she held the flute we had heard. Her head leaned to the side as she played, so she did not notice us. Moments after we arrived, three glowing lanterns bobbed through the trees to hover above us. One glowed yellow, the next blue, and the third green. Their lights dimmed as their movement slowed, and I could tell they also were listening to the song.
The ghost continued to play, and we listened in silence. The Fox lay down beside me, her russet head on her black paws. The Goblin hugged my shoulder and wept into my fur until I shrugged him off. No matter how often Judge Fang insisted the Goblin wade through a river or stand in the rain, he smelled bad.
Soon the Hopper was weeping too, and the sound of his squeaking sobs caused the ghost to raise her lips from the flute. The music stopped, I felt as if I had just woken from a long nap.
The ghost looked at us. Half of her face was hidden behind her long, black hair. The side we could see was as smooth and blue as a statue in the moonlight.
“A phantom virgin!” whispered Judge Fang. “The poor child died before she married.”
Despite his quiet voice, the woman heard his words and gasped in indignation.
“How dare you speak to me of such things, insect!”
“Please do not be affronted,” said the tiny magistrate. “Despite the sorrow of your life, you will hold a high place in Heaven. Those who perish of this world before knowing the pleasures of the marriage bed—”
“You know nothing! As you can see, I am not in Heaven. I am trapped here in the world, like you.”
“Harrumph!” Judge Fang cleared his throat, tried to speak, and instead cleared his throat again.
He leaped down to rummage in his bag for objects which he then set on the ground. He lit three red candles and placed them on his little mirror. He shook a cup of sticks, removed the one that rose to the top, and observed it in the reflected candlelight.
“You made a vow,” he said. “There is a task you must complete before your soul may rejoin the Celestial Wheel.”
“How can you—?” The ghost paused and nodded. “It is true.”
“It is possible that your path to Pharasma’s Spire may be straightened if you were to aid the Celestial Bureaucracy in another significant matter. We are gathering an army to oppose the mischief plotted by the Burning Cloud Devil and the Jade Tiger. It is for the help of these delightful Courtesans that we came, but perhaps you too could join us.”
“These names mean nothing to me,” said the ghost. “I will remain here until ...until the return of the one I must face.”
“Alas,” sighed Judge Fang. He turned to the Dancing Courtesans and began his speech.
Something about the ghost’s sad face reminded me of my master when he had been sitting alone too long. He was not so sad when he was with Radovan, or when he was talking with other people. Wherever he was, I hoped he was not alone.
I went to the ghost and sat at her feet. She lifted her hand to pat my head, and I let her. I could not feel the weight of her hand, but my fur tingled where her hand touched me. We sat for a while as Judge Fang spoke to the Dancing Courtesans. They quietly agreed to come with us, but that did not stop him. He wanted to finish his plea.
The Spider joined the Phoenix in a nearby tree and watched Judge Fang swing his arms and clench his fists for emphasis. S
oon the Hopper and the Goblin grew restless and began bumping each other. The Goblin pinched the Hopper hard beneath its round body until it screamed. Gust flashed a spark to chastise the Goblin, who rubbed his burned buttocks and leaped in time beside the agitated Hopper.
The wind from Gust’s laughter blew back the ghost’s hair. That surprised me because I thought nothing could touch the ghost, but also because of what I saw beneath her hair. Her skin was patchy and ridged like a dry ravine. Someone had burned her with fire or acid.
The Virgin gasped and smoothed her hair back down over her face. No one else saw the hidden side of her face. The way she looked down at me, I knew she wished I had not seen it either. I lay my head on the bricks beside her lap, and she stroked my head some more.
Judge Fang had barely noticed the quarrel between the Goblin and the Hopper. He continued his speech without pausing. “...after we seek more help in Shanxin Province, we shall convey our forces west to Iron Mountain and support the monks of Dragon Temple as they defend the Gates of Heaven and Hell during—”
“What did you say?” said the ghost.
Judge Fang straightened his robe and stood as tall as he could. “I said we must travel to Iron Mountain to join the monks of Dragon Temple—”
“I will go with you.”
“Are you certain?” said Judge Fang. “It seemed that you were compelled to remain—”
“This place is no longer safe. Devils and necromancers fought here not long ago.”
The Dancing Courtesans bobbed in agreement. Their lights glowed red and orange in alarm.
“Still, your sudden change of heart surprises me. Is it something I said? Did my presentation move you to join us?”
“That is exactly it,” said the ghost. She placed her flute in the sleeve of her gown and stood. The Courtesans fell in behind her, and we turned back to the gate from which we had entered.
Oblivious to the Goblin capering behind him and making rude gestures, Judge Fang polished his fingernails on the breast of his robe as he walked beside the Phantom Virgin. “Tell me, lady, which part of my oration did you find most persuasive? Was it the epigram by General Gar-Sung? At first I thought that might be a trifle too grand, but then I recalled the adage made famous by the Imperial poet ...”