by Cyci Cade
Lights and noise came toward them. Wei stopped puffing and Fu Chow saw him briefly. The dragon´s talons dug in on the ground and helped him to get up. Wei picked up Fu Chow and limped across the beach searching for a hiding place. Where could a huge dragon hide? Wei had to change into his human form at once. That was their only chance. Instead, he continued.
Fu Chow looked like a rag doll in a child´s hand waving back and forth, his head spun. Wei found a stone wall; he climbed to the top carrying the master in one claw. Fu Chow didn´t know that dragons were able to climb up slippery walls, and he wondered why Wei didn´t fly. Wei was hurt, he assumed.
They kept hidden while men with lanterns lit the beach and talked in a strange language. They seemed puzzled when the trail of the dragon finished suddenly, and they couldn´t track the foreigners anymore. Some of them tried to climb the rocks, but the steep wall stopped their attempt. After numerous attempts and several different routes, they let it go and returned to their homes.
Fu Chow and Wei slogged through the trees. They walked many miles in the opposite direction. At least it seemed miles or they walked too slowly. No matter, it was almost dawn when they found a river and without another option, decided to stay there. He slumped on the ground, too tired to eat or say something he glanced at Wei who changed to his human form, and fell asleep.
In a few days, they had recovered from their accident. Wei hunted, they refilled the bottles of water, and it was soon time to continue the quest. Fu Chow´s stomach protested when he thought about the trip, but he closed his mouth firmly and mounted the dragon again.
They flew over South and Central America, and the USA. They had short breaks just to rest a little, refill water and food until they reached the north of the country. During the rest of the journey they didn´t have problems, on the contrary, they seemed as if on a travel vacation when everything went well. In a couple of days they landed on the chilly Elbert Mountain.
“We arrived.” Fu Chow sighed. The pressure of the task was over for him, but they had faced sand storm, cyclone, bad weather, crashes, and survived. What else could happen since the most dangerous part of the mission was now to begin? “We are near, you need to keep your human form; we are going to walk the rest of the way.” Fu Chow took boots and a coat then handed them to Wei. “These boots and coat will keep you warm.”
Wei obeyed. He slipped into the coat and boots, shouldered the bag, and followed his master with no objection. They climbed down the mountain; after a few steps, Fu Chow felt the effects of the thin air and altitude; the strong gust of wind made a simple walk into a challenge. The trail got steeper, they stopped, had a view of the lakes and the forest a long distance away. The scenery was amazing, but they didn´t spend much time sight-seeing in front of that beauty of nature. Their time ran out, and that area was too dangerous to Wei.
Fu Chow beckoned to Wei and restarted the long trek down the mountain stopping in safe places to take small breaks and rehydrate. After another mile or so of steady descent they accessed the tree line, entered into the forest and in a short distance they passed Dragon´s Valley boundary. The jewel´s red eyes shone, the air changed, a great pressure fell over them and that was the limit to Wei. They set camp in a cave near a river, ate, and rested.
“You stay here, keep your human shape.” Fu Chow removed the sword from the bag and gave it to Wei. “You know how to hunt.”
Wei examined the weapon. “Yes, I know how to hunt as a dragon, but with this…” He pointed the blade at Fu Chow. “I cannot figure out how to use it.”
“What you learned you cannot forget. You were a great fighter, and this is one of your weapons.” Fu Chow spoke confidently and waited for a flash of memory from Wei, however, his pupil studied the weapon as if he had never handled it.
“I don´t think you should go alone, I can help. You said that I´m an excellent warrior, besides I don´t want to stay here waiting like a child.” Wei protested. He spun the sword over his head, moved it up, down, to the sides as if he waged an invisible battle.
“Your biggest problem is, you are insubordinate, do not follow the rules. You stay here, in human shape,” he demanded and pointed to the cave. “Don´t go anywhere, the river is your limit and don´t morph under any circumstance. Do you understand? This is for your security. You don´t have any idea of the dangers of this place, dangers that you cannot fight against now.”
Wei lowered his head and nodded. “I am sorry, master. I´ll wait here like you said.”
“There are lots of things to learn, and there is time for this, don´t worry.” Fu Chow tried to soothe him, he recognized that he was too severe sometimes, though he couldn´t endanger Wei´s life. With no memory, his pupil was an easy prey.
Wei nodded again. Fu Chow tapped his arm and stepped to the middle of the forest. He hoped that Wei didn´t do anything stupid, but it wasn´t time to be concerned about Wei, he had another goal to focus on, like how to rescue the other dragon. He needed to find the route to his captivity.
Centuries had passed since he saw the dragon for the last time, and they were punished. What is supposed to happen when the brothers meet themselves? What is supposed to happen when they come back home? Did the royal family blame Fu Chow for their misfortune?
Chapter 15
Kate
Kate crept among the trees; soon the village would be crowded due to the day off. The harvest had ended and Phillip might turn up at her house. Kate had avoided him for the past few days for obvious reasons; she still hadn´t mustered enough courage to tell the truth, to tell her friend that she was dating another.
She checked the picnic basket full of the food Liu told her he had never eaten. This was her surprise to him, a kind of one month celebration. Kate met him one month ago; it seemed that they had known each other for an eternity.
Unable to control her anxiety, Kate ran across the forest. She planned to arrive first and surprise her boyfriend. Strange thought boyfriend, strange word. They never talked about this, but they met every day, held hands, talked about a lot of things, except Liu´s life, and kissed… Was it supposed to be a date or not? Kate reached the lake and walked slowly to the rocks to set up their picnic.
A movement in the lake caught her attention. She crouched and hid in the bushes. A huge green dragon emerged and came ashore. Damn! The dragon hauled its heavy body, fanned its tail, looked around, and turned in her direction. Kate kept motionless; she wished she could silence her heart that thumped hard, almost painfully.
The dragon walked some feet toward the rocks and then a strange thing happened. Kate’s eyes widened, she rubbed them and widened them still more. Without warning, the dragon shrank, shivered, and the green dragon became a brunet guy.
As if some supernatural force controlled her, Kate got up and strode toward the man. He turned to her. She saw, but she did not see Liu.
She opened and closed her mouth without making any sound a few times until at last she could manage a sentence. “Liu? What is going on?” she demanded furiously. Her head spun, she knew what she had seen; however, it was so… unbelievable that she had to ask.
Maybe this was one of her nightmares where dragons chased her, and she didn´t notice. Maybe she was still in her house waiting for the dawn to break, and she might wake at any moment. But no, it wasn´t a nightmare and, yes, the day had started and she was face-to-face with her predator.
He tilted his head and approached. He seemed unaware that she had discovered his secret. His widened eyes scrutinized her. He probably wondered why she stayed there instead of running away from him.
“What are you doing here?” he finally asked.
Were these the only words he had to say? Only this? How about I´m sorry, I lied, I´m not who you thought I was?
His image blurred in front of her watery eyes. A sharp pain crossed her body, the same pain that you feel when you discover that the person you love the most has betrayed you and the world might end.
“You are the dragon, you lied,
and you deceived me.” She swept away the tears and stepped back increasing the distance between them.
Liu held her wrist. “Let me explain, please. I didn´t deceive you; I was waiting the right moment to tell you.”
Kate yanked and released her wrist. She walked back and forth. “You shouldn´t have done this. I told you everything about my life. I opened my heart…” She stared at him. “That´s why you never said anything about yourself.” She cried and continued to move, otherwise she´d slump on the sand.
“I am sorry, but if I had told you who I am, you wouldn´t stay with me. I love you, Kate. I was scared, terrified… I don´t want to lose you. I had so much suffering; I never felt so alive and happy like this month. I wanted you since our first encounter, here, in this lake, when I saw you hurt,” Liu said forlornly, and she wasn´t sure if he also cried or his damp face was the effect of his wet hair.
“How could you betray me? I told you about Samantha.” She prodded his shoulder and accused him in a vehement way. “You caught the girls, seduced them and what? Were you not satisfied? You had to look for another one?” Kate admonished him; at that moment it seemed the right thing to do.
“I didn´t take the girls, my mom did.” Liu took a deep gulp of air, his voice failed. “Let me explain. Jin Quan forces us to do this; he wants the girls to work on his building. We are as much victims as them.” His words had no sense; he was unable to form a coherent sentence.
“Poor little weak defenseless dragon.” Kate shook her arms in a violent way. Her tone increased. “Do you think I believe in you? I´ll take Sam from you, wait and see. I…”
Liu cut her off with a kiss. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her wildly, gloomily, and passionately as if it was their last kiss. “No, Kate. You won´t do this. Jin Quan will kill you.” His lips shivered against hers, his tense body restrained her movements.
She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away. “I don´t trust you anymore.” She swallowed the knot formed in her throat, shook her head, wandered off, gazed at him for the last time and ran away.
“Kate, wait. Don´t leave me, please. I love you!” Liu yelled and followed her part of the way, but he stayed back.
He was a pretender. Their connection, love, and everything else was a mistake. A net of lies wrapped around her. Liu used her, with what intention? What did he want from her? She thought they belonged to each other, thought that destiny had put them together. Idiot! She fell in love with a liar. Liar, liar, liar… she repeated over and over again, the ground seemed to fall from under her and incoherent thoughts raced around her mind to pollute it with all sorts of ideas.
Kate arrived in the village. People´s voices chatting about the most varied topics hurt her ears. Without any doubt, she wanted to be alone in the hardest moment of her life. She always acted in this way, she wasn´t the kind of person who shared each detail of her life with everybody; on the contrary, she preferred to be isolated to settle down her mind and stop the internal bleeding. Kate cleaned her face and ran to her house, avoiding people who prepared the harvest feast, but ended in Phillip´s arms.
“At last I found you.” He showed a wicked smile, put an arm around her shoulder and dragged her out of the village. “I´ve missed you. My father didn´t give me a break.” They sat on a log. Phillip continued to talk while he played with her fingers. “I hope you haven´t thought that I kissed you and left because I am not that kind of man.”
Oh no! He wanted to talk about relationships, kisses, dates. I´m not prepared for this, not after a break. Her heart bled, her body contorted with the pain, her mind refused to think clearly and, inwardly, she screamed and she had to be strong to keep it inside her instead of allowing the scream out to reach everybody ears. She couldn´t talk about love with Phillip and she didn´t have the courage to reveal him that she loved another man. How could she reveal it to him right now if she wanted to deny that very same feeling?
Phillip leaned toward her, his fingers skimmed her jaw, and his eyes were full of desire. His lips touched hers. The kiss was slow, soft, calm, and didn´t cause the same sparkle in her body as Liu´s kisses.
“I love you, Kate. I want to be with you until the end of my life,” he whispered and continued to kiss her; his hands raced along her back and explored her body, electricity ran through it, however, it caused pain. It wasn´t the same electricity that pulled her near Liu, provoked goose bumps and left her hair standing; in this case, it pushed her far from Phillip.
What on earth she was doing? She responded to his kisses. But what feelings did she have for him? Kate liked him, they grew up together and it ought to be so easy if she loved him; it might be enough, but it wasn´t. Kate pushed Phillip away; nothing to say came into her mind, tears filled her eyes, her lips quivered and she lost control of her body.
Phillip slid his fingers across her face; he dried the salt water. “Why are you crying? Did I do or say something wrong?” He stroked her face; her skin tingled under his touch.
“No.” Kate sighed. “I don´t deserve you. I…” Should she tell the truth? Which truth? She loved a pretender who broke her heart but she still wanted him? She didn´t feel the same passion for Phillip. Her body didn´t scream for Phillip as it screamed for Liu. No, of course not!
“I´m not ready to date.” She began with the first appropriate thought that crossed her mind.
“I understand.” He lowered his head and held her hand. “I have lived the same dilemma for a couple of years, that’s why I waited until now. When I found you almost dead in the forest I realized that I loved you, and I want you to be my wife, my son´s mother.” His fingers drew imaginary figures in her hand while he spoke seriously. His face´s muscles moved as if he had to summon great energy from his entire body to pronounce those words. “If you need time, I´ll wait.”
Phillip came near to kiss her once more, but Kate dodged and got up. What happened to the story that he would wait he told her less than one second ago?
“I need to go home.” She darted to her house without giving Phillip time to say anything else.
She wondered for how long she might deceive Phillip and let him make plans. He wished a life with her yet she didn´t have any intention to marry or have children with him. Kate decided at dawn she´d release Sam and put aside these romantic questions. Boys had brought lots of problems and suffering to her.
Kate remained in her bedroom for the rest of the day. That was a safe place; nobody would bother her there while she studied her new plan. The day to set Samantha free arrived. She wasn´t prepared for that, but the options were, stay there and face Phillip and his uncontrollable desire to kiss her or climb up the mountain and face Liu and his lies. Actually, she didn´t have a choice. She just knew that she couldn´t leave Samantha with the man she both loved and hated.
It was late when the sounds coming from the feast disappeared. She needed to sleep, though it became an impossible mission. She rolled on the bed during the night and mentally she traced each step to reach the mountain and release Sam. She couldn´t go through the lake, she should find a pathway through the forest. What would Liu do if he caught her releasing Sam? Would he stop her, arrest her, or kill her?
Unable to sleep, she got up and reorganized her supplies in the backpack and then she considered if she should leave a note to her parents or not. With a lot of yes and no, she chose no, for now, nobody should know about her plans. Certainly another wrong decision, she always chose the incorrect alternative, though, today wasn´t the day she´d start to do the right thing.
Ready to leave, Kate shouldered the backpack. She had chosen her fate, not with Liu or Phillip, but with Sam, in a land far away from here. She had waited too long, wondering if it might be too late to save her sister. It was time to put aside all distractions and act.
She grabbed the bow, arrows, hatchet, and dived into the darkness using a small torch to light up the way while she remembered Phillip´s instructions. One of them was, “Don´t turn your back on the opponent.�
�� She whispered when she listened to a strange noise moving in her direction. How could she face her opponent if she didn´t know where it was? Unsure what to do, she ran, however the jungle sounds increased as the day set.
Kate stopped briefly to eat and drink. She wanted to gain distance enough in order for her parents not to be able to find her, or Phillip, and she needed a shelter to rest at night. Find water to refill the water bottle, be prepared if you locate a prey, look for a shelter, set up a fire to keep the animals away… She thought about what she had to do and hoped that she had remembered everything, at least the most important things to stay alive on the first day.
A small rodent crossed her way. Kate chased it and prepared the arrow in the bowstring. The animal was agile and fast, but Kate was determined. She followed the prey and waited for the best moment to release the string. She sighted the target and shot, the arrow hit the rodent and flung it away.
As quick as a bullet Kate caught the animal, removed the arrow, tied a rope on its legs, and started her way to the second item on her mental list, look for water. Who said that she wasn´t capable of surviving in the jungle? She laughed, satisfied, carrying her dinner.
She stopped, stayed silent, and heard one very recognizable sound, running water. Kate twirled, tried to figure out from which direction the sound came, and the best way to reach the stream. She used the hatchet to open a pathway through the branches. Certainly, she had chosen the worst way to get there.
She was so tired when she finally found water. However, she didn´t have time to rest, not on the stream´s edge. It was too dangerous. Kate sipped great gulps of water, refilled the bottles, washed the arrow and saved it, then with a knife, skinned the animal, removed its insides, washed its body and noticed that something or someone watched her.
Kate raised her head. A lioness on the other side of the stream studied her attentively. “You again,” she protested. “You supposedly don´t like water. Am I right? Either way, I won´t wait to discover.”