Dragon's Quest (Dragon Princes Book 1)

by Cyci Cade

  “How does death smell?” He went forward not paying attention to her warnings.

  “The air is… how can I say? It smells like musty clothes,” she mumbled.

  Liu noticed a big gate half-opened. He signaled to Kate and shifted step-by-step into the room. The large area had sculptures, shelves with pictures, vases, many kinds of decorative objects, and the throne made of gold and jade.

  “The Jade Emperor´s chair.” He elbowed Kate and pointed.

  She studied the place open mouthed.

  “Liu.” Wei´s voice echoed through the walls.

  “Wei?” Liu called back. He tried to figure out where his brother´s voice came from.

  “Liu, go away.” The tone increased.

  “Wei.” Liu followed Wei´s sound and scurried to his brother. He found Wei chained to the column. He didn´t think twice, spun the sword, hit the chains, broke them effortlessly, and released Wei like any superhero would do.

  “This is a trap,” Wei warned him, but Liu had already realized it.

  “I know. Let´s find the eye and escape.” Liu didn´t wait for his brother’s approval or reply; he wanted to get out of the Palace and for this he had to find the eye.

  They moved to the shelves. Wei grabbed a sword hung on the wall, and they searched for the dragon´s eye among the objects perfectly arranged on the shelves. Fu Chow had said that the eye was with the elixir of immortality. Liu wished there was a bottle with a label on giving its name and instructions how to use it, like he saw in the supermarkets, though it was asking too much.

  A muffled noise of boots hitting the floor interrupted their quest. In seconds, the immortal guards surrounded them; those immortals were ready for battle. Liu pushed Kate behind him and Wei joined him to form a shield. The undying warriors yelled and ran to attack them. Liu´s defenses and attacks were accurate; he was as lethal as his enemies, with one difference, he could die, they couldn´t.

  Liu cut, slashed, sliced, chopped, and stabbed; soldiers fell down and regenerated quickly keeping them busy. Jiu Huan Do worked efficiently, but Liu needed much more to get a chance against the immortals. His enemies were brutal, and the fight became bloody. They might not survive. The only noise Liu could hear was the blades’ clank when one particular sound caught his attention, the whistle of an arrow cutting the air, traveling across the room in slow motion to hit Kate´s chest.

  Kate´s hands held the arrow; her supplicant eyes met Liu´s for a split second and, still in slow motion, she slumped on the floor. Liu darted to her; he jumped in the air, spun his right arm, hit a soldier who approached Kate, putting him out of combat for a while and landed on the floor near Kate.

  He nestled her in his arms. Kate´s lips moved without making any sound; her eyelids blinked nervously to close; her limp body collapsed against his. She was bleeding. The sound of the blades became distant as if the battle were in another dimension. Wei protected them; his brother was doing a good job. Little by little, those soldiers and Wei became distant too; there were only shadows in front of Liu´s flooded eyes.

  Kate was right; that Palace smelled like death. She cautioned him, and he didn´t listen to her. Now she was dying in his arms. She is dying in my arms! It couldn´t be true, it was just a bad joke. How would he live without her? He wouldn´t, there was no life, no world without Kate.

  Claps brought Liu back to reality. A man who didn´t fight stood near him with a smile of satisfaction on his face. The immortal General. Liu could recognize a general´s armor anywhere, any circumstance.

  Anger raised inside Liu. He laid Kate on the floor, turned to grab his weapon, spun the sword and with a leap he placed the blade against the General´s throat. Liu coerced him. “Order them to put the weapons down.”

  The General shifted to react. Liu pressed the sword more on his throat. “Don´t.” Liu threatened.

  “I am immortal,” the General bragged.

  “I know, but I´d like to know what might happen if I cut your head off.” That was the point; they didn´t consider that option. Certainly, the soldiers would take more time to recover their lives.

  The General obeyed him and commanded the soldiers in an ancient language. The warriors lowered their weapons and stepped back giving them more space.

  Wei ran to Kate; he knelt beside her and cushioned her head. Liu wanted to split Wei´s head from his body too, or cut his claws off, only then would Wei stay away from Kate. Though if Liu didn´t do something to save her no one would touch her again, so Liu turned his attention to the General.

  Liu pressed the blade on his throat once more. “She´s dying. I want the elixir of immortality.”

  The immortal giggled. “There is no elixir.”

  “I know the legends, if you exist, the elixir is also real.” Liu´s sword scratched the General´s throat.

  “It finished decades ago,” he muttered under the press of the blade.

  “Where is the garden with the Peach Tree?” Liu asked through gritted teeth. He recognized the dangers of that place, he could die, however, he had no choice.

  “You were instructed very well,” the General chuckled. “I´d like to help her. I´d be glad with her presence; you know, you only can live forever here, but the fruit appears only once every six thousand years, and I am sure we must wait more…” He leaned his head back, put the index finger on his upper lip, and whispered some numbers. “Two thousand years.”

  Liu lowered the sword feeling defeated that instant. Kate was dying, he had to do something, he couldn´t just cross his arms and watch her leave. “Do you have power to heal her?”

  The General shook his head in denial.

  Liu used the sword to threaten him again. “So, I will try to find the peach and you´ll keep them safe until my return.”

  “What makes you think that you will return? Only the most virtuous of the human beings have permission to visit the garden. You´ll die,” he scoffed.

  Maybe Liu wasn´t a virtuous man, all chances were against him, but he´d not be discouraged in front of that danger. He never did it before, and he wouldn´t start that day. “I´ll die if she dies.”

  In silence the General nodded and pointed to the side gate behind the columns.

  Liu released him, darted to Wei, and knelt beside him; his heart raced when he faced Wei´s somber features. “Will you take care of her? I don´t trust in those immortals, be careful.”

  Wei nodded.

  Liu wanted to order him to keep his hands off her, though he couldn´t do this watching his brother´s grief. Wei really liked Kate.

  Breaking eye contact with Wei, Liu sprinted to the heavy solid wooden gate. He pushed it with all his strength; his feet slipped on the floor making it more difficult. He used his body to shove it. After great endeavor the gate moved a little. Liu held his breath to pass through the narrow gap; a splinter tore his shirt and scratched his stomach.

  He didn´t pay attention to his new wound; on the contrary, he dashed among the trees and looked for one fruit, just one was enough to save Kate. Right that moment he felt weak, dizzy, drained, and his sight blurred. He didn´t give up.

  Liu went forward even though hard to breathe, his knees folding in every step and his muscles having spasms that caused cramps. His fingers bent and became deformed; he ignored the injuries once more and stayed focused on the mission. When he couldn´t support the weight of his body, he crawled amid the trees. They had green leaves, solitary pink flowers with five petals, but no fruits. Liu held onto the trunk of the tree and stood up; with shaky legs he inspected the trees. His quest was in vain; the immortal was right, there was no peach in that garden, no hope for Kate, for him.

  A knot formed in his throat. He fell to his knees, hid his face in the hands, and cried desperately. “I recognize that I don´t deserve your mercy, but please Great Dragon, save Kate.” He continued in the middle of hiccups, “It is my fault. She´s here because of me, take my life, but save her, please.”

  Liu felt paralyzed, tied by an invisible and stron
g rope that restrained his movements. He stayed in that position until his tears ended, then he got up, tried to find balance on his wobbly legs to come back to Kate empty-handed, with no cure for her.

  He spun to search for the way to the Palace and leaned against the trunk to recover his strength. Liu was terribly sick, he´d probably die among the trees of immortality. What irony of destiny. He couldn´t express any feeling, in other circumstances he might laugh, produce a sarcastic sentence, curse somebody, say some insults or do all of that; however, he just felt defeated and weakened even to curse his own destiny.

  Without wasting more time, he tramped from tree to tree. He held onto the branches to move toward the Palace when a delicate yellow fruit caught his attention. It started to grow closer across from him, he reached the red-yellow color and it stopped growing.

  Liu gulped, stretched his trembling arm and picked it. The fruit had a velvety peel and smelled very good. He admired it a few seconds, fell on his knees and, with his face on the ground, thanked the Great Dragon. He received a blessing. The Great Dragon, or whoever in heaven heard his pleading. Liu stood up and darted to Kate as fast as his sick body allowed.

  Liu passed through the thin gap in the gate and got another wound. He examined the fruit; it remained intact. He walked fast across the room and found the guards pointing their weapons at Wei and Kate. She was nestled in his brother´s arms. That little seed called jealousy started to grow and dig deep roots into him.

  “I take over from here.” He pulled Kate from Wei´s arms, tilted her head back and squeezed the peach into her mouth until the last drop.

  The juice dripped into her mouth slowly. He waited, stroked her face, toyed with her fingers and curled the strand of hair around his finger… Time passed and nothing happened. Kate remained unconscious. He pulled the arrow out and pressed the wound to stop the bleeding.

  “It didn´t work,” Liu sobbed and searched for any response in General and Wei´s faces. He found nothing, only blank faces.

  He kissed her forehead and hugged her. The inner pain became physical, excruciating, and agonizing. He felt as if he was drowning in a tank with water and salt. His sore body and soul refused to believe what was happening; this was much more than he could bear. He hadn´t been trained for this. He had trained to be successful in all his tasks; after all, he was a prince of the Dragon´s Dynasty. The word ‘failure’ didn´t exist in his vocabulary, not until that day.

  Chapter 36

  Samantha

  Samantha opted to wear the small jewelry to breakfast with her fiancé. She sprayed perfume on each side of her neck and voilà, she was ready to meet Jin Quan. She glided through the corridor to the next door wearing her high heeled boots, knocked on the door once, and entered the room with no ceremony as usual in the last days.

  Mary set the breakfast. Lately the servant had been avoiding any contact with Sam, maybe fearing some kind of retribution. The servant knew that Sam had innumerable reasons to destroy her and that her days were numbered in that job. It was true. Sam would replace Mary for another girl after the wedding; that evil woman ought to receive what she deserved and pay for everything she did to Sam and her friends.

  Jin Quan joined her. He pulled her close, kissed her lips with fervor as he did each morning and guided her to the table. Right away Mary served them; in a few short days the bitch learned what Sam liked for breakfast and she put in front of Sam a plate with scrambled eggs, toast and a glass of milk. Jin Quan, on the other hand, ate a kind of oatmeal that Sam promised to try someday just to please him because she had no intention of swallowing it.

  “On my office desk is a black folder, bring me it,” he ordered while he stroked Sam´s hand.

  Right at that moment Mary came back carrying the folder and put it on the corner of the table. Jin Quan dismissed the servant with a wave and when he heard her close the door he smiled at Sam and gave her the folder.

  “There are wedding dress designs, cakes, and other wedding things. Choose which you like, but don´t be too long, we´ll marry in seven days.”

  Sam leafed through the folder. “Is it possible to sew a wedding dress in a week?” She lost her interest in the breakfast; her eyes remained locked on the pictures.

  “It´d be possible in a day if you wished. I believe you can find one that you like.” Samantha glimpsed at him; he finished the oatmeal and put the bowl aside.

  “I am positive I can. There are dozens of designs; it will be difficult to choose one.” Her fingertips turned over the sheets.

  He got up and kissed the top of her head. “I have business appointments now; we meet at lunchtime.”

  “I´ll work on it all morning.” She waved the folder while observing Jin Quan leaving the room and then she finished the milk and the scrambled eggs.

  A cold sensation swirled in her stomach. She was choosing her wedding dress. It was a dream coming true, for years she thought that day would never come, her only desire was to marry a good man and to be a mother. When she was young she thought that man might be Phillip; she wanted three kids at least. Now she could accomplish her dreams and have beautiful kids with Asian traits. She giggled.

  She left the breakfast table and sprawled on the sofa, crossed her ankles and studied each detail of the designs. First, she looked for pros and cons, but it didn´t work, all bridal dresses were perfect; she needed another kind of parameter to pick one.

  Sam leafed through the pages once more and stopped on a different one. All dresses were white; this one was white, golden and red. She scrutinized it; the dress was in white satin, the top embroidered with golden and red details, the layered skirt features also embroidered with the same details, and a short veil. It was unique, wonderful, but the classic A-line gown also caught her eye; the top and skirt adorned with beaded ribbon. She put one beside the other and wasted more time trying to select one in vain; it was so difficult, and Samantha started to think that she might not be able to decide between them on time.

  As she didn´t reach any conclusion, she went to the easiest part, the wedding cakes. There were: three-tiered cakes with henna-like scroll work and topped with a cluster of jewel-toned sugar flowers; four-tiered cakes covered in green fondant wrapped in a cascade of lush tulips; classic three-tiered cakes iced with off-white fondant decorated with beautiful scroll work and topped with a cluster of cream flowers…

  “Samantha,” a whisper interrupted her. “Samantha.”

  Sam turned around. “Who is?” She put the folder on the sofa, got up, and looked around the room. She was alone. She stepped to Jin Quan´s office and found nobody.

  “Samantha, come outside.”

  She ignored the call, returned to the sofa and continued the wedding arrangements. She examined the last cakes she had seen minutes ago, white-chocolate, ganache, blackberries, lemon-berry…

  “SAMANTHA!”

  She jumped off the sofa, threw away the folder onto the floor. “Fine, I am coming!” she shouted.

  It was madness, a voice called her and she obeyed; the weird thing was that she knew the voice but couldn´t remember from where. Something strange was going on, and she´d discover what it was.

  Samantha stopped in her room to dress in a coat and walked outside using a private corridor, forbidden to most of the women. She discovered the way that led to the side of the building when she moved to the second floor. The door creaked when Sam forced it to open; she stepped outside and kept the door half-open, fearing to be stuck outside. Sam lifted the coat´s collar when the chilly air blew and whirled her hair. She crept across the bushes without being sure why she was doing that, though it seemed the right thing to do.

  Moving toward the forest the whisper gave her instructions and told her which path to take. Her hands rubbed her arms. She shivered and considered going back, but the voice encouraged her to go ahead and she obeyed. She went down the hill holding onto the branches in order not to slide on the icy ground until she reached a cave. The dragon waited for her. She had forgotten the
animal, completely.

  Sam crossed her arms. “You cannot summon me!” she admonished the creature; her chin feeling the chilly air.

  “It is important. What have you done?” The dragon kept low so she could stare at it easily.

  “Taken care of my wedding,” she answered with dry humor.

  Why on earth did she have to explain her plans to an animal, mainly because now, seeing the beast, she remembered its warning ‘Stay away from Jin Quan.’

  “I warned you. Why didn´t you listen to me?” The dragon frowned. It seemed very angry like her mother when she disobeyed her, but she wouldn´t allow it to intimidate her.

  “Because you are wrong. Jin Quan is a good man, and we are in love.” Sam looked to the sides, trying to change the topic of conversation. She liked the dragon, she didn´t want to argue with it; for a weird reason she felt tenderness for the beast. “Where is the other dragon?”

  “Hunting. Don´t change the topic; it is a big mistake. I´m afraid for you.” The dragon shook its head. “You should run away; he is dangerous and can hurt you.”

  “No!” she protested before the beast gave many reasons why not to marry him and defended her future husband. “He is kind, gentle, a perfect gentleman, he´d never hurt me.”

  The dragon got up and increased the tone. “There are many types of aggression, it doesn´t need to be necessarily physical; there is one much worse, emotional aggression.” It made each word stand out.

  “You don´t know him. Sorry, but I cannot do what you want. It is my future, my life.” She threw her hands up feeling tired. “I love him, the way his hands run on my body, his wild kisses and how he takes care of me. It is the first time that someone cares about me. You don´t have any idea what is to grow up with no family, to live alone for so many years. I got sick and I had to work, nobody took a cup of tea to my room and asked how I felt.” She got things off her chest and dried her tears.

  “I am so sorry, child. I know how hard those years were to you and all those girls. I wish I could free and return you to your families.” The dragon sniffed.