by Jeff Wheeler
“Yes. The shield of justice he hides behind is a lie, Bingmei. A lie that he has sought to conceal for generations. Come. We must keep walking. The phoenix is anxious to greet you.”
“I’m afraid of her,” Bingmei admitted. She remembered the vision of the Great War, of the phoenix’s defeat. If she hadn’t won her fight with him, how would Bingmei prevail?
“You shouldn’t be,” Juexin said. “Yes, she is a fierce bird. You’ve seen how phoenixes can fight off dragons. But birds are also the embodiment of mercy. Think of it! Robins don’t fly away from their nests at the first sight of a predator, and when a fox comes hunting, a hen will gather her peeping chicks beneath her wings. They protect their offspring at great risk to themselves. That is what you smelled from your mother.”
Bingmei felt some confidence restored at his words and rose again. They continued walking through the woods. She noticed that other siskins had gathered around to stare at them while they talked. Once they started walking again, the energetic chirping continued.
“Why were you sent to bring me to the palace?” she asked as they walked.
“Because I am your brother-in-law,” he said with a smile. “We are family. Your parents and grandparents are trapped inside Diyu. They cannot pass through the gate unless something is done in the mortal world.”
“Am I truly meant to marry Rowen?” She could still scarcely believe it. She’d thought they had no future, that she had no future.
He smiled at her. “You’ll be happy together if you marry for the right reasons. You’ve witnessed for yourself what happens when two greedy fools bind themselves together in an inseparable bond. They entered their covenant willingly. And they are doomed to spend the ages of eternity thus entrapped.”
The pieces she’d heard in conversations in the past began to come together. “Echion and Xisi claimed immortality and defeated the phoenix. But their kingdom didn’t last. Echion has tried, ever since, to create a . . . kingdom that will survive, one that will supersede the one he destroyed. So far, he’s only been able to maintain control of the Grave Kingdom, but he hasn’t been successful here, on this side of the wall.”
“Yes. He has learned how to extend his dominion for longer periods each time. But each of his attempts ends in war, chaos, and murder, because he refuses to model his leadership after the phoenix. And then he and Xisi destroy everyone with the killing fog and start over after a new generation is ready for a ruler.”
“What I don’t understand, Juexin, is why I felt compelled to bring Echion back. Was it because he stole the Phoenix Blade?”
“You were chosen by the phoenix, Bingmei. The blade responded to you when you were chosen. Echion was still connected to his body, just as you are to yours. With the sword in his foul grip, he sensed the phoenix had made its choice. Even as a spirit, he has some power still in the human world, so he lured you to Fusang to revive him.
“You were chosen because of your twin gifts, although you believe them to be curses. Your gift of smell enabled you to detect Echion’s deceptions. And your winter sickness taught you tenacity. Echion does not believe that someone so insignificant would be able to break his kingdom, but as you’ve seen, even the smallest bird can be useful.”
“So when I meet the phoenix, I will be given the chance to accept this destiny. How will I be reunited with Rowen? Is he still at the phoenix shrine?”
“No, Bingmei. He will be taken back to the Hall of Unity to be tortured by Echion.”
Dread sickened her. She’d seen Echion kill King Shulian, Rowen and Juexin’s father, in that awful place. “How will this work, then? How will it come to pass?”
“It already has, Bingmei.”
“I’m confused. You told me the river of time flows backward . . .”
“But there is something that you don’t know. You can travel forward in time for the same reason your phoenix-sister was able to show you those visions of the past. The phoenix can fly over the river. When you have bonded with it, so will you.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Essence of Light
“Are you ready, Bingmei?” Juexin asked.
She knew what he was asking her. He wanted to know whether she was prepared to make her decision. Ahead of her, between the trees, she could see the splendid palace, but it was still a distance away, like a mountain at the other end of a valley. The path leading through the woods was straight, and none of the trees blocked the view.
“I think I am,” she answered. “How long will it take us to get there?”
He smiled, and she smelled the citrus scent of his amusement. “Not long, Bingmei. Take my hand.”
She gazed at him in confusion and then reached for his incorporeal hand. She couldn’t feel it, not in the way of skin and sinew, but as soon as they touched, she felt something arc between them. They were locked together as one, their essences fused. Then he lifted his other hand and traced a glyph in the air with his finger. She didn’t recognize it, but its impact was immediate. Suddenly, they were rushing down the path, traveling faster than an arrow shot from a bow. The trees whirred by them soundlessly, seeming to melt into the colors of the Woliu, and a feeling of exhilaration bubbled up inside her. They came to a stop just before the massive palace, which was almost as large as the mountain it had been built on. Two statues of phoenixes stood before a massive staircase leading from the palace down the grassy slope.
It dwarfed what she’d seen in the mortal version of Fusang.
Different types of stone could be seen in its edifice, from white granite to red sandstone, and the layers reminded her of the gorge leading to the phoenix shrine. Parapets and towers rose from it, each with a sloping rooftop. The buildings below intermingled with the gardens. And great birds swooped through the skies above the palace . . . the phoenixes that guarded it. Men and women clothed in radiance filled the courtyard, walking and conversing with each other. Amidst them sat huge copper vats with lion-head handles.
Mountains rose behind the palace, framing it with a beauty and grace only seen in nature. The sky itself was blue and brimming with fluffy clouds. No shadows marred this place, which was enveloped in an ambient light.
She felt absolute peace and safety in the courtyard. Nothing would ever harm her here. The people who walked past were fragrant with honesty and good intentions. Some even waved to her.
“How did we get here so quickly?” she asked Juexin, glancing over at him. “Was it the glyph you drew?”
He nodded. “Once I drew it, the palace pulled us here. I was instructed to walk with you until you were ready.”
“I think I am ready now.”
He drew another glyph in the air with his finger, and again the rushing feeling came, pulling them up the heights of the mountain-sized palace. She saw others walking up and down the vast steps. Siskins and other birds chirped and sang all around, brightening the air with the sound of their exuberance.
They rose until they reached the upper threshold of the palace and came over a low stone wall decorated with fluted carvings and effigies of different breeds of bird. Bingmei might have gasped had she been in her physical body. They were in an open-air pavilion filled with stone pillars and perches, where sang birds of every kind and every colorful plumage imaginable.
The flapping of wings reverberated through the air, and Bingmei looked up as an enormous bird eased down into the courtyard. It was predominantly red, the same shade her hair had become, but its plumage also contained brilliant shades of gold, umber, peach with tints of red, and even lavender. The crown of feathers above the beak were darker browns.
When it landed in the massive pavilion, the other birds burst forth in chirps and calls, recognizing their leader. The phoenix landed and began approaching Bingmei, its yellow eyes regarding her with frank interest. And then its smell wrapped around her, the scent of cinnamon porridge, baked yams, and even better things that she couldn’t name. The smells of love coming from the phoenix were so powerful that she dropped to her knees
before it.
She heard its voice in her head then, and nothing startled her more than how much she recognized it and felt she had always known it.
Welcome, beloved daughter. My precious chosen one. Rise. Meet your sisters.
The urge to weep filled her soul again, yet it could not find expression. She felt accepted, treasured, and cherished—with an intensity that was beyond her ability to express. “Love” was the only word that came close, but it was insufficient. It was deeper than love. Much deeper.
As Bingmei lifted her head, she saw other soul forms approach her. They bore the shape of human women. To her surprise, she recognized them, although she had never met them in either realm. They were her sisters, the other generations of phoenix-chosen, and it felt as if she’d known them forever. Each had been trained in the fighting arts; each had grown up with a deprivation of sense or a particularly acute sense. One woman had been born blind. Another had eyesight so sharp she could pick out every tiny imperfection. One was blessed with the gift of extraordinary hearing. Another had been born deaf. All the senses—touch, taste, sight, hearing, and yes . . . there was a girl who had been born without any sense of smell. She had gone her entire life without being able to smell until she came to Tian. And she looked at Bingmei with a special smile, a sense of exuberance that reminded Bingmei of the little siskin.
Their soul forms smiled at Bingmei, showering her with an acceptance she’d so rarely felt in her mortal life.
You were all chosen, said the phoenix. Chosen to see the mortal race for what it is and what it can be. Chosen to join with me in light, to share in my gifts and power. To be an ensign for the nations. Each was chosen to give birth to the one who comes. But Echion killed your sisters before they could achieve their destiny.
The phoenix’s words twisted something in Bingmei’s heart. She longed to stay with these women, her sisters, and be part of the phoenix’s ensign.
No, beloved. You must return to Tianxia. You must teach them about Fusang. Without your sacrifice and the knowledge you will bring of the truth, the door that separates families from one another will remain closed. I will help you. My servants, even the littlest of sparrows, will help you in your efforts. But my power will always be part of you. We will go together.
Bingmei felt such a throb of love that she gasped. She gazed at the majestic bird, longing to stroke the feathers but feeling it would be disrespectful. This being was no pet. Its sentience and power dwarfed her own in every way. It was powerful enough to defeat Echion. It possessed an inner strength that went beyond its beak, its talons, the muscles rippling beneath the plumage. It filled her with awe.
Why did you choose me? she asked the phoenix in her mind. I am nothing compared to you.
She heard a little clucking sound, a tender sound that made her want to shiver with delight.
Because I knew, beloved, that you would be faithful to me. My daughters embody many of my attributes. You are all strong-willed, determined, patient, and wise. But your most important qualities are persistence, the ability to withstand suffering and mockery without yielding to it, and grace, the willingness to forgive instead of hate. You have already demonstrated an affinity for these attributes. And you must also instill them in your child.
Do not think it will be easy when we return, Bingmei. Echion will not surrender his dominion willingly. He has built his wenming for thousands of years. It will not be toppled overnight. He and his dragons will fight to maintain their empire, and if they learn of your destiny, they will stop at nothing to destroy your child.
Will you join with me, beloved daughter? Are you willing to continue our fight against Echion and his evil until it is purged from Tianxia as well as the deepest chasms of the Grave Kingdom? It will not be simple. It will feel impossible. But know this: With my help, you will do wonders. You will make it possible for the world to be reborn. Are you willing to return?
Bingmei gazed into the faces of her sisters and saw the hope in their eyes, smelled their courage and confidence in her. Each one of them had made the decision. And many of them had been killed by Echion trying to do the phoenix’s will. If she went back, she had no guarantee that she—or her child—would survive. And yet she felt a longing, a painful longing, to be reunited with her body-soul. To see Rowen again, and Quion. To once again be able to cry and laugh and feel the sun on her flesh. And if she did her part for the phoenix, she would ensure all her sisters were, one day, reunited with their body-souls too. That they would once again be able to see their loved ones, now walled off from them in the Grave Kingdom.
“Yes,” Bingmei said.
She smelled approval, joy, relief, from the phoenix and from her sisters too. That single word she’d spoken was all that was required of her.
The phoenix lowered its head before her, looking into her eyes with its fierce yellow gaze. She felt like a chick, a baby phoenix that had not yet learned to fly. She felt so weak and insignificant, but the purpose inside her was a flame that could not be smothered. Echion and his hordes would not hold her back.
As the phoenix looked at her, images flashed through her mind. Dragons and phoenixes fighting. It was a glimmer of what she’d seen on her way to the temple. Of a shadow staining the world, turning all it touched to darkness. She heard the war shrieks of the great birds and the guttural roars of dragons. The battle had been fought for eons, and she was about to join it.
She felt the great bird’s beak brush against her forehead.
Hold me, the phoenix whispered to her mind.
She extended her arms and wrapped herself in the feathers. They were so soft and smelled so fragrant and lovely. She felt a sigil being traced on her back.
Light exploded from behind her, and she sank into the feathers, and the feathers sank into her, and suddenly, the two of them were one. Bingmei didn’t lose herself. In fact, she had never felt more herself before.
When her eyes opened, the phoenix was gone. All her sisters knelt around her in a circle. Juexin knelt as well, just as he had knelt before Echion, except this time it wasn’t in dread but in respect. She turned, in confusion, wondering where the giant bird had gone.
And then she felt the rustling of wings on her back.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
United
We are one in purpose, you and I. There is a bond between us, a sharing of power and commitment. Of feeling. This you will instill in your child. You may not always feel me, but know that I will always be with you. Guiding you. I will teach you the Immortal Words stroke by stroke. This is the first one.
The image of a glyph came to Bingmei’s mind. It burned in the air, bright and glistening.
This is the glyph for Shijian. Remember it.
Bingmei felt the glyph sear into her mind. And as it burned, she felt the knowledge of it transfer to her too. It was the concept of time, the passing of the sun over the sky, the shifting of the stars, the growth of a baby to old age, the seed to a tree. It was more than all those things, and yet she understood it like she understood how to breathe, how to swallow, how to blink.
Before you go into the future to visit your husband, you will need your body. Reclaim it.
Bingmei looked at those kneeling before her. Her spirit-soul was still in the immaculate pavilion, and yet she felt a pulsing awareness embedded inside her, like one of Quion’s fishhooks, connecting her to her body far away.
How do I go back? she asked in her mind.
Pull.
It wasn’t like pulling on a rope. But she sensed how to do it—and so she did. She was ripped away from those kneeling in the great hall in a rush of dazzling colors. It happened so quickly, the crossing of such immense space, as she followed the thread of her existence back toward her body.
She heard dragons shrieking as she crossed the Woliu, but nothing could snatch her. Nothing could stop her flight. Groans came from the ripples of existence. And then she was back in her body again.
Bingmei gasped, her lungs filling with air. In the past
, it had hurt to awaken after dying, but this time she felt no pain, no pricking sensations. Returning to her body felt like an embrace, and she experienced throbs of satisfaction as if it were a bed and she was getting ready to sleep in it. Her senses were sharper now. The simple things she had been denied, the human things like laughter, she felt capable of doing again.
Someone had closed the lid of the sarcophagus, creating a vault of blackness. The air was stale but not unpleasant. And it smelled of peace and tranquility—her smell.
She felt a gentle pressure against her mind. The voice of the phoenix was much softer now. It was the tiniest of whispers, yet it was as piercing as the birdsong that had opened her heart.
Draw the glyph. We must go.
In the cramped confinement of the sarcophagus, Bingmei lifted her arm. That act felt glorious. Knowledge flooded inside her. She knew how her arm worked. Everything about the blood, sinew, and bone was instantly clear to her. Yet it wasn’t her knowledge. She was borrowing from the phoenix’s vast understanding. She traced the glyph Shijian on the lid of the sarcophagus, and it sparked to life, illuminating the crypt. The word Shijian was made up of two different symbols merged together. As she drew the parts with her finger, another aspect of the glyph became clear to her. Time could either slow or quicken.
Something tugged inside her heart.
He’s ready for you.
Again, the whisper came so softly, she could barely hear it. She felt that other strand inside her, the one connecting her to Rowen’s heart, and followed it as the magic of the glyph enveloped her.
The stone box fell away as the curtains of time opened to her. A shaft of light encircled her, and she could feel the wings on her back pumping as she vaulted over the chasm of time. The sensation of flying was deliriously enjoyable.
The brightness of the light intensified before fading into an ordinary noonday sun, revealing Bingmei’s surroundings to her. She was flying over the mountains surrounding the palace of Fusang. Not the Fusang of the otherworld, but the one she had visited beneath the glacier. Roads had been built connecting the palace to the bay, where huge trading ships and junks came in and out of the waterway.