Black Warrior

by Tiffiny Hall

  As soon as I speak, her face turns vicious and her hands ball. Kimo steps back. Cinnamon steps onto the mats. Acid puddles in my gut. A heart jumps into my throat and pounds through my cheeks. Cinnamon moves into a fighting stance with the eyes of an insect. She waits to attack. Where’d she learn to do that?

  ‘Where’s Elecktra?’ I ask.

  ‘She’s gone,’ she says, her voice starched.

  ‘Jackson?’

  ‘Everybody is gone.’ Her eyes are canine and dark. ‘And if they haven’t gone by now, they soon will be,’ she purrs.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  Cinnamon looks to Kimo. He stares at her for a brief second and Cinnamon closes her eyes, but in that moment I see her breathe a part of him in. Then Kimo closes his eyes and Cinnamon opens hers. I see her bright eyes turn monsoonal, thunderous clouds moving in. What just happened?

  With a feathered whisper, she says, ‘It’s over,’ and the words knife me.

  ‘What’s wrong with you? What’s going on? Do you know Kimo? Why are you here?’ I ask frantically.

  She stares at me from under her red eyelashes, then without warning leaps into the air, a gorgeous backflip into a fighting stance. I want to applaud her.

  ‘Where’d you learn that? Bounce Nation?’ I ask.

  Her eyes narrow. She flips again, but this time lands close to me and grazes my cheek with a kick. I grasp my face in surprise. The kick stings, but not as much as the shock.

  ‘Cim?’ I murmur in a voice wearing a life-jacket, barely floating.

  She punches me in the nose and my nostrils hose. I squeeze my nose to turn off the tap. It’s harder to see. The room now has frayed edges.

  ‘W-what are you doing?’ I stammer.

  Cinnamon punches me again, this time in the chest. I block her hand and twist it into a lock. She glares at me, dead-straight hair like fine strings of glass stabbing my wrists. She smiles a shark’s grin, then spins and thunders a high kick across my shoulder bones. I wait for her to apologise. My stomach tightens. She examines me closely, then clenches her jaw and launches kicks like machine-gun bullets to my chest. My instincts step into gear. I counter her kicks with the blades of my hands, slicing away her attacks with a whir of blocks. What the heck is going on? My stomach drops out from beneath me. The dojang shrinks to a padded cubicle; I feel every centimetre of it zoom in on my panic. Cinnamon’s cheeks are asthma pink, but her breathing is unnervingly strong and steady. I push her away hard in the collarbone that used to be buried but is now a clothes hanger. Cinnamon flies back and lands on the floor. Her red curtain of hair parts to reveal a predatory smile. Kimo smiles with her, his malice gassing the room like a grenade. I can’t escape them. I feel the anger blister.

  ‘Stop this!’ I yell, but still that smile, almost mocking, knowing a secret: what’s in the present, behind the door, under the sheets. A spider! She’s crawling under my skin, her eyes cataract blue, hazy, not Cinnamon but some other creature called on somehow by Kimo.

  Cinnamon licks her lips, then jump flips, jump flips, jump flips down the length of the dojang to me, her hair sweeping the floor, then wiping the ceiling. I watch in awe. She is magnificent. I wait for her to reach me, her teeth showing pointed and catlike, growling. She flips one more time and I send a water hose from my palm to wet the mats. Cinnamon slides on the water and crashes into the wall. She stands up, uninjured, and races towards me, her knees high as she runs, her arms powering, her snarl ripping through her galloping hair. She launches onto me, wrapping her legs around my waist and clamping my neck in an armlock. She twists my head, trying to snap it off my neck. I scream, but my voice is cut off. I tense my neck, drop my chin to clamp her hands under my jaw to stop the twisting, but she is strong, supernaturally strong. She lets out an angry barking laugh. A clot of panic blocks my breathing. The air dumps out of me, the room purples, the dark cavern of Cinnamon’s elbows sharpens and expands, the air becomes wet and drowny.

  I open my mouth and summon fire to heat my teeth. My mouth glows with a flaming tongue and I bite down hard on her arm, sinking my teeth into her white marble flesh. Cinnamon screams and lets go. She is bleeding. Clutching her arm, she looks at me now with crystal blues, blues so bright they could shine sun off the ocean’s back.

  ‘You hurt me,’ she accuses, wincing.

  ‘What have you done?’ Jackson screams into the dojang and scoops Cinnamon into his arms. His eyes are fierce.

  ‘I-I.’ I’m stuttering. Trying to speak. Words are sticky, slurring. ‘I. She attacked. I, I —’

  ‘What the hell were you thinking?’ Jackson holds on to Cinnamon’s bitten arm. She peers up at him with her giant husky-puppy eyes, weak again. ‘She finally comes into the dojang to train and you hurt her?’

  ‘Kimo was here. He called her —’

  ‘Who?’ he interrupts.

  Sabo runs in with deep perspiration marks under his arms. He slides on his knees to Cinnamon’s side.

  ‘Cinnamon?’ I whisper.

  She looks at me with a face as expressionless as a lake. The room is deadly silent except for three strips of ripped rice paper wafting like seaweed in the waves of heat. A bamboo plant in the corner loses a leaf.

  ‘Get out!’ Jackson yells at me.

  My heart slices in two, a coconut smashed. I can’t move. My chest tightens. Two apples ripen on my cheeks.

  Jackson glares at me. ‘Get out!’ he yells again.

  I turn.

  ‘Out!’ he roars.

  I run, streaking across the mats, ducking the ‘Get out, get outs!’ like hail.

  SEVENTEEN

  After hours of running and thinking in a numb state of shock, I find myself at Mushroom Rocks as the sky begins to brush with darkness. The ocean looks like blue cellophane moving in the breeze. I can’t even remember how I arrived here in the wind, so fast that my nose has dripped and dried in white stripes across my cheeks. All I can think about is Kimo. Who is he? Why did Mum stare at him like she’d seen a ghost? She had looked at him the way she studied the none-so-pretty seeds; she saw danger behind the beauty. How did Kimo change Cinnamon? Thoughts of my father, the monster and how much I’ve hurt Cinnamon and Elecktra with my powers trail behind. All I’ve ever wanted was to be normal, but my normal is being a freak. I feel the wings in my dream clash against my heart, iron slabs smashing against the delicate organ where all my love is pillowed, ready for my father.

  Mushroom Rocks is located on Lanternwood Cove. Tall pine trees shine their lanterns onto boulders that sprout out of the sand like mushrooms all the way to the sea. Some of the rocks are larger than I am. I jump, fly and climb over the rocks to reach the blowhole, which is famous for its spectacular water explosions. We learned about the blowhole in science. It is a hole in the roof of a deep-sea cave that has turned into a vertical shaft. Water rushes into the cavity, air compresses the water, then it explodes out of the cave’s nostril like a reverse waterfall.

  I inch my toes over the edge and look down at the water bursting through the hole in the jagged volcanic rock the colour of pewter. There is a lookout perched over the blowhole. If you lean too far over when a big wave comes, you could get sucked out to sea. There’s been a lot of accidents up here, with kids posing for selfies and not watching the water. The blowhole can spit water ten metres in the air.

  I look out at sea as a huge set of waves rumbles in from the horizon. I grip the bars of the lookout. The surrounding dimpled cliffs reflect upside down in the glassy ocean. Upside down feels like everything in my life. Darkness sinks in. The waves are merging with the sky. I’m feeling swamped by blackness, but something keeps me holding on to the bar.

  My dream crashes in: ‘Roxy, let me go!’ I hear the scream. I feel my ankles wrap around the bar, as my fingers grip it now. A wave is sucked into the blowhole and explodes out of the mouth, raining down on me in heavy white pelts. A second wave explodes, higher. It showers down on me in a single blanket blast. The railing becomes slippery.

&nbs
p; I look out to the watery mirror as another huge set of waves rolls in. I see a glimpse of shadow riding the back of one wave. I stare harder, but don’t see a fin. The shadow is now as big as a boat. I lean over to see more closely when suddenly another wave sucks up the blowhole and erupts white foam into the black. I look up at the sky, and twisting through the foam is a darkness, thicker than the night. The water crashes down on me and I’m blinded for a moment. When I open my eyes, staring back at me are two bright blue eyes shining above rows of shark teeth, claws as long as swords, a wrecking-ball tail thrashing, black fur iridescent in the moonlight, each hair a needle.

  A scream traps in my throat. A shock of heat burns the sole of my foot. Wings beat and the sky reverberates, clouds part above the creature, the rocks surrounding me shudder at their roots. I try to scream again, but I’m frozen. I have never seen such a disgusting creature, with the body of a tiger and the wings and tail of a dragon. I try to keep my balance, but his wings crack the rocks, hurricane strong. He looks as solid as a minibus with teeth — lips pulled back and rows and ladders of razors gleaming in the moon. He beats his wings again. My hands slip off the railing and my stomach skewers as I plummet into the blowhole.

  Wind rushes past my face as I fall, trying to keep my eyelids open against the force. Colours streak past me — silver rocks, granite edges, marble knifing points. I attempt to summon wind to slow me down, but I look behind and the monster is chasing me. I call the wind to speed up my fall. I spear towards the black water, then brace myself for impact. The water hits me, concrete hard, the bottom rushing up and slamming my body. I inhale a lethal gallon of ocean. Then the darkness falls through wetness to stillness, until —

  I’m aware of noise in bubbles. I feel hair spread across my forehead. Someone is pushing on my chest. Lips touch mine. Air blows into my mouth. I sip the breath entering my body like steam. My head is swimming. I feel trapped, stuck in a swallowing reclining chair I can’t heave myself out of. The blackness is complete, thick, relaxing. But I can hear it all. I blink. Everything is broken into crystals and prisms, sharp edges of light. I am surrounded by diamonds, glittery surfaces. Am I dead? I blink again to clear my vision.

  A hand touches my arm, then my head. I sense more movement at my feet and try to speak, but my mouth is full of mothballs. There are cobwebs in my throat.

  ‘Is she dead?’ Hero asks.

  ‘Pump harder!’ Jackson yells. ‘Don’t stop!’

  ‘What the? Did you see that?’ Hero asks.

  Silence sifts around us. The boys stop reviving me. I listen to squirrels fighting in the bushes. Then Jackson kisses me, a Sleeping Beauty kiss that jolts my entire body awake, as if I’ve been asleep for one hundred years. My eyes snap open. I cough. A large hand like an oven mitt cups my head and another pair of gentle hands pulls my wrists so I gradually sit up.

  ‘Roxy Rox,’ a familiar voice whispers. I reach my hand out to Jackson and it is met with warm fingers, then a squeeze.

  My words have dried up. I look at the carpet of twinkling stars. My stomach is a shaken-up soft drink.

  ‘She’s alive!’ Hero calls from by my feet.

  I try again to speak, but only mumble.

  ‘Shhh.’ Jackson presses a finger to my lips. ‘Rest.’

  ‘I can’t believe she was at the blowhole on her own! It’s suicide,’ Hero says.

  ‘You saved me?’ I manage.

  ‘We both did,’ Jackson says. ‘We were looking for you, to tell you the samurai have had enough. They want to know what’s going on now. Your mum isn’t cooperating.’ He lowers his voice. ‘Plus, I wanted to say I am really sorry for cracking it at you. Cinnamon was acting really weird after you left. Sabo told me what happened and I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.’

  Hero crawls up beside me. ‘Yeah and we heard a scream and saw you fall into the blowhole,’ he adds. ‘We swam across from the shore, but you weren’t breathing.’

  ‘Did you see it?’ I ask.

  Hero frowns. ‘What?’

  ‘The tiger dragon — the teeth, the claws, the wings?’

  Jackson and Hero look at each other.

  I cough hard, then say, ‘It was here. Looking straight at me. I think it was searching for me at school and that’s why there was the fire pit and it came looking for me at the school dance too. I dunno why it doesn’t attack.’

  Jackson thinks hard for a moment. ‘Maybe the monster is waiting for the right moment. Maybe it’s testing you?’

  I shiver. Perhaps the monster is forcing me to reveal my powers so it will know my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to battle. But how does it even know I have powers? It hurts to think.

  ‘Geez, it feels like I died,’ I say.

  ‘I think you did,’ Jackson says. ‘Lucky we fixed it.’

  ‘Lucky.’ I smile at him. ‘Thanks.’

  Jackson helps me to stand. I look up into his pool-green eyes and he leans down and presses his lips against mine, then wraps his arm around my neck and pulls me into the nook of his elbow. He sighs deeply from his nose and kisses my hair. Perhaps Mum is wrong — you can protect the ones you love.

  ‘Hero and I are going to look for the monster’s lair,’ he says.

  I point to them both. ‘Friends?’ I ask, trying to stop myself from smiling.

  ‘Colleagues,’ Jackson corrects me. ‘Samurai and ninjas have to work together on this. You were right.’ He brushes my hand. ‘Maybe you should fly home and start talking to your mum about speaking to the Chiba clan. We’ll follow on foot.’

  I give a military nod. I’m still feeling a bit giddy.

  I summon the wind, pick up my heels and poise myself to sprint. I leap forwards, then my legs halt. No wind lifts my feet. I lick my finger and hold it up to the sky. There’s wind blowing through my hair, so why isn’t it lifting me?

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Hero asks.

  I try to run with the wind again. Nothing happens. My pulse whips and I begin to panic. I hold my palm up and summon fire. I stare into the heart of my hand; no tingling sensation, no fire, just an ordinary hand. I call to the water at the beach’s edge to crawl towards us. I focus, cleanse my mind with blue as I beckon the droplets to join into powerful waves. I grunt with concentration and break a sweat, but the water ignores me. All I can seem to summon are frustration and anger.

  ‘My powers!’ I scream. ‘They’re switched off or something!’

  Jackson slaps his hand to my forehead, then scans my body. ‘Lie down and rest for a moment,’ he says.

  I nod. I know he’s not right, but it feels better to pretend. I lie down and close my eyes, then suddenly flinch when my foot is poked. ‘Hey!’ I say, opening my eyes to see Hero and Jackson staring at me with their mouths in O shapes. ‘Where’re my shoes?’

  ‘We took them off to drag you in. You were a bit heavy,’ Hero says.

  I frown as they goggle at my foot. ‘Haven’t you ever seen a foot before?’ I snap and pull my foot up, hooking my knee into my elbow, then gasp. My tiger birthmark has disappeared. I check my other foot. Both feet are clean, no markings at all. I scramble upright. ‘What is going on?’

  Jackson and Hero look at each other and exchange words with their eyebrows. Jackson swallows hard.

  ‘My p-powers,’ I stutter.

  Jackson’s eyes darken. He turns to Hero. ‘What did you do?’

  ‘Do?’ Hero steps forwards and bloats his chest.

  I roll my eyes. Here we go.

  Jackson shoves him. Hero shoves him back.

  ‘Hey!’ I yell. They ignore me. Jackson has Hero in a headlock. Hero flips Jackson in a shoulder throw and they end up on the ground, scrapping like schoolkids in a playground despite both being expert martial artists. The wind whips around us and suddenly Hero flies up into the air, pushing his palms down by his side. Fire funnels out of his fingertips like rockets.

  ‘Stop!’ he booms.

  Jackson and I gawk up at him. Then Hero realises that there is fire shooting from his
hands and freaks out. The fire switches off and he falls to the ground. He looks at his hands, rubs them together, then stares up at us, bewildered.

  Jackson clacks his tongue in his mouth as if he has accidentally bitten something sour. ‘I can taste grass,’ he says.

  I stare at him, then slowly ask, ‘Can you taste paper?’

  Jackson sucks on his tongue for a moment and laughs. ‘Yeah, I can.’

  A flood of feelings washes over me: panic, regret, fear, vulnerability. I nearly drown a second time, it is so overwhelming. I attempt to catch my breath.

  ‘Think about the ground and try to move that rock,’ I tell him, pointing to a stone at the foot of a nearby tree.

  He shakes his head, confused.

  ‘Do it,’ I command.

  Jackson stares at the stone beside the large gum tree and pinches his eyebrows into a thinking face. We hear a ripping inside the ground, then a creak. Suddenly something hits my chest hard, and next thing I know I’m flying through the air, then crashing to the ground. A falling tree just missed us. Hero is hugging both Jackson and me.

  ‘That was fast,’ I tell Hero. ‘You saved me a second time. What the heck is going on?’

  He makes a fireball with his hands and throws it over Jackson’s shoulder. Jackson shoots a net of water out to the fireball and extinguishes it. Hero runs to the other end of the beach in a flash of wind. Jackson chases after him and sparks invisible, then summons a wave to dump on top of Hero. Hero shoots out of the water like a cannon on the tails of the wind. I look over to Jackson and he is conducting the sand with soft movements like Tai Chi. The sand begins to build a glorious castle as tall as he is, with a ‘For Sale’ sign in the front. Am I dreaming? My head is still whirring from the fall. I tap my ear as you do when waterlogged and hop on one foot.

  ‘Oi! Wait!’ I yell. They stop. ‘You’re such boys,’ I mutter. Once I have their attention, I scream, ‘Running off to play with my powers without thinking. I have no powers!’

  They stare at me blankly. Hero shrugs and Jackson blows air up into his hair.