Dragon Kings of the Orient (The Myth Hunter Book 2)

by Percival Constantine

  Sun Wukong flipped back, putting even further distance between him and Elisa. He reached up and pulled a hair from his head, holding it in his outstretched palm. The hair quivered and began to transform into a full-length sword, ornately decorated with a monkey head forming the pommel. He twirled the sword as he closed the distance between him and Elisa. Their gazes locked, Wukong's fiery eyes flashing as he gazed into her soul.

  “You’re in the wrong place, sweetheart,” he said. “You’ve got nothing to do with any of this. So walk away now, I don’t wanna hurt you.”

  “The feeling’s not mutual.” Elisa charged forward again, throwing punches made deadly with the katara. Each of these were easily deflected by the Monkey King’s sword and his uncanny speed.

  Asami attempted to come at him from behind, but Sun Wukong was prepared for this and he back-flipped over her. When he landed on the ground, he pulled another hair from his head and it grew into a second sword, identical to the first.

  Elisa and Asami charged at him again. Sparks flew as Elisa’s katara and the Monkey King’s sword exchanged blows. Asami’s claws similarly raked against his second sword to no real avail. Sun Wukong jumped as Elisa thrust forward. His tail wrapped around her wrist while he was in midair, and he used her momentum to throw her into Asami.

  The two women tumbled together on the ground. Sun Wukong stood upright, twirling the twin swords in his hands. He started to chuckle as he watched the pair.

  “Really? That’s all you got?”

  “We haven’t even started.” Elisa spoke those words, but they were merely hollow bravado. She knew she was outclassed and was lucky to have survived this long. She released her grip on a katara and reached to a pouch hanging from her belt. She drew a handful of hura-shuriken—flat, small Japanese throwing stars—and hurled them at her enemy.

  The Monkey King easily deflected all five of the twirling stars with his twin swords. Asami thought to take advantage of the distraction that Elisa had provided for her and she ran towards Sun Wukong, shifting completely into her fox form. Elisa's distraction wasn't enough. As Asami pounced, Sun Wukong slid forward to avoid her claws. In his place, he thrust his swords upward, impaling the pair of them inside the kitsune.

  “Asami!” Elisa quickly got back to her feet and went to her companion’s side. Asami remained in her fox state, no longer able to maintain her human form. Sun Wukong noticed the glowing pearls around the fox’s neck, pearls that seemed to grow dim.

  “You don’t have much time,” he said. “If you don’t hurry, your friend is dead.”

  Elisa fixed her steely gaze on him. “If you think this is over, you’re in for a real surprise.”

  “I just want what’s mine, what was promised to me,” said Sun Wukong. “Stay out of this, girl. Bad things happen when mere mortals mix themselves in the affairs of the gods.”

  He ran for the elevator while Elisa focused on Asami. With the Monkey King’s departure, his swords had reverted to simple hairs from his head. Elisa drew a kukri blade and sliced into her pants at the knee. She weaved the cloth into a makeshift bandage to wrap around the fox’s body.

  “I have no idea what to do...” she muttered.

  ***

  Max feverishly searched through the legends he had downloaded to his laptop, trying to find some way to halt the Monkey King. Nearby, Ao Jun just stood facing the window, eerily calm.

  “You’re wasting your time, Professor Finch. Nothing you possess could tell us how to stop Sun Wukong from claiming what he wants.”

  “There has to be something here,” said Max. “You can’t tell me you’ve resigned yourself to death already.”

  “Maybe I have,” said the Dragon King with a sigh. “Maybe my time has finally come.”

  The elevator door opened and Max turned, hoping he’d see Elisa or Asami. Instead, he saw Sun Wukong. With reckless disregard for his own safety, Max moved to block the demigod’s path and cleared his throat.

  “What have you done with those women?”

  Sun Wukong gazed at Max and his eyes burned brightly. “If you hurry, you can save her.”

  Max felt the anger building up inside him. “What have you done to them?”

  “Not them—her,” said Sun Wukong. “The yokai is the only one who’s injured. And if you’re going to save her life, you need to do it soon.”

  Ao Jun approached and laid a hand on Max’s shoulder. “He’s right, Professor Finch. Asami is very special, I’d like to see her survive.”

  “What about you?” asked Max.

  “What about me? I’m already dead. Isn’t that right, Sun Wukong?” asked Ao Jun.

  The Monkey King nodded, with his eyes still on Max. “I don’t want to kill you, old man. But if you get in my way, I’ll do exactly that. If a mortal in her prime and a yokai couldn’t stop me, what makes you think you can? Especially when you have no weapons?”

  “Professor Finch, please,” said Ao Jun.

  “I can’t just leave you here,” said Max.

  “You must,” said Ao Jun.

  The Monkey King stepped aside, allowing Max to leave. “Now. Before I change my mind.”

  Max gave Ao Jun a final look, and then the white-haired man nodded. He went to the elevator, leaving Ao Jun and Sun Wukong alone together in the office. Once the doors closed, Ao Jun walked back towards his desk.

  “I know why you’re here,” he said.

  “I’m here to claim what’s mine,” said Sun Wukong. “And I’m here for my vengeance.”

  “I want you to know that I regret what we did,” said Ao Jun. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not worth much.”

  “I understand.” He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and took out a box that seemingly had no opening. Ao Jun placed his hand atop it and closed his eyes. The box began to glow and the top magically vanished. Ao Jun handed the now-open box over to Sun Wukong.

  The Monkey King reached inside and pulled out a pair of boots. He set them on the ground and stepped into them. He tested them out a bit with a smile on his face.

  “Now you can use the clouds once again,” said Ao Jun.

  “Thank you,” said Sun Wukong. He went to the sword hanging on the wall and drew it. Testing its weight, Sun Wukong looked at his foe. “Are you ready to accept your fate, Dragon King?”

  Ao Jun nodded. “Do it quickly.”

  “I will,” said Sun Wukong.

  “But promise me one thing,” said Ao Jun.

  The Monkey King raised an eyebrow.

  “When you find Ao Kuang, make him suffer.”

  Sun Wukong nodded and sent the blade slicing through Ao Jun’s neck.

  CHAPTER 7

  When Max arrived on the ground floor, he saw Elisa tending to Asami. The kitsune was still in her fox form and Max knelt beside them both. Elisa looked at her mentor with concern.

  “What are we supposed to do?” she asked.

  Max opened his mouth, but couldn’t produce a sound. He examined the necklace the fox wore, the light of the jewels pulsating very faintly. “She’s dying. These pearls, they’re a kitsune’s life force.”

  “So what do we do? Take her to a hospital?”

  Max shook his head. “Normally kitsune can heal from these types of wounds, but this was done to her by a demigod. She needs more help than we can provide.”

  “You mean she needs mystic help,” said Elisa.

  Max nodded.

  “And where are we gonna get that?”

  A faint whine escaped from Asami’s mouth. Elisa leaned in closer. “She’s trying to say something.”

  “Can you make it out?” asked Max.

  Elisa leaned in closer and heard Asami’s voice weakly mutter two words: “Laohu...hitsuyo...”

  “Did you hear that?” asked Max.

  “Yeah. She said she needs...Laohu? Do you know what that is?”

  “I’ve heard it before. It’s the name of a hujing, a Chinese fox spirit. The kitsune and the hujing share a l
ot of commonalities. Laohu is reportedly the oldest fox spirit in existence.”

  “Take...an orb...” muttered Asami. “Need...Laohu...”

  Elisa reached for the necklace. A single pearl easily separated from the rest, apparently not connected by any band or string. When in her hand, the orb began to glow brightly. Elisa’s eyes went from crystal blue to molten copper. Max watched her with concern.

  “Elisa, what’s—”

  His question died in his mouth. There was a bright flash and Elisa blinked. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the lobby of White Tiger International. Instead she found herself in the midst of a forest, surrounded on all sides by foxes of different stripes and species. Some were very small, while others were quite large. The common red fox, white-haired arctic foxes, the large maned wolf, and many others. The one similarity they all shared were necklaces that matched Asami’s. They circled Elisa, some of them possessed multiple tails and white fur. When they saw the orb in her hand, a few moved forward, baring their teeth and growling.

  Elisa’s hand instinctively went behind her back, her fingers wrapping around one of the kukri hilts. She turned slowly, trying to get a count of how many foxes there were. But they were so numerous, it seemed impossible to number them as they moved, their tails swishing back and forth as they slunk to and fro.

  One of the foxes stepped forward, possessed of two tails and fur that was a darker orange, almost red. His eyes burned brightly and he opened his mouth wide, a fireball shooting forth.

  Elisa leapt to the side to avoid it, the heat of the flame scorching her jacket and singeing her dark hair. She sprang almost immediately from the defensive to the offensive, drawing both kukri, but the fox pounced away as she attempted to strike. Elisa's failed strike over-extended her and left her expose, and then the fox jumped towards her again with a growl, his claws cutting across her back as she tried to duck.

  When the fox moved in for another strike, Elisa moved into it as opposed to avoiding. She took the brunt of the swipe with her arm, managing to avoid the claws, and used her other hand to drive the kukri into the fox's side. She twisted the blade in the wound.

  The fox shrieked and collapsed to the ground, tearing the kukri from Elisa's grip. His form began to transmute. He became more humanoid, the paw changing into the form of a hand which was able to reach and pull out the kukri. With efficient brutality, Elisa moved in again, using that distraction to deliver a kick to his jaw.

  Amazingly, with the kukri removed from the wound, the bloody gash began to close before Elisa's eyes. The fox-man sprang high into the air and as he descended his hairy fist slammed down on Elisa's skull. Elisa stumbled back, but managed to bring the final kukri in her hand, to the ready.

  The fox-man leapt at her again and Elisa reeled back to avoid a slash of his claws. Her vision was still swimming before her, but lashed a foot into the creature's crotch. It seemed that this was a vulnerable spot for the creature, because the fox spirit whimpered in pain and as he reeled away Elisa managed a spinning kick to the beast's head. Elisa lunged forward for the coup de grace, but instead of killing her opponent, her kukri merely slit the skin of his furry chest.

  Instead of the pack tearing her apart, the other foxes had formed a circle around the two combatants. They howled and yipped appreciatively as they watched the fight. Why they weren't helping one of their own, Elisa couldn't say.

  Elisa’s next slash did not find the fox spirit unprepared. She moved in for another slash, but he blocked it with his arm, the edge of the blade biting through fur and impacting against bone. The fox spirit howled in agony and lashed out in wild rage. The blow had such force that it would have decapitated Elisa, had she not been narrowly able to slip beneath the blow, somersaulting along the turf and rising behind the fox spirit. Elisa kicked him hard in the back, knocking him forward. When he tried to turn, she struck again, the point of her boot connecting with his neck.

  The fox spirit coughed and reeled, backing away from her. Elisa held the kukri up and pointed the bloodied tip at him. “You don't seem so tough now. Come on, what are you waiting for?”

  The fox spirit growled and pounced, his own blood trailing behind. Elisa jumped at him as well but she mistimed the speed of the spirit fox's leap and was unable to bring her kukri to bear. The pair met in mid-air, bodies impacting, claws and kukri flailing ineffectively, and they fell tumbling to the ground. The fox managed to pin her down, growling as his jaws were scant inches from her face.

  “Enough!”

  The ring of foxes parted, creating a path. A single fox, larger than the rest, approached the circle. His fur was starkly white and he had nine tails. When this fox entered the circle, the rest of the pack closed it behind him.

  “Let her up,” said the white fox.

  “She’s an outsider!”

  “She has a purpose. Now let her up before I lose my temper.”

  The fox spirit atop Elisa shifted form again, transforming into a man with an angular face and copper eyes, and a grievous kukri wound upon his forearm. “She has one of Asami’s pearls!”

  “I know,” said the white fox.

  “We have to—!”

  “Taka, do not make me repeat myself.”

  Taka nodded. “As you wish, Laohu.” He stood, allowing Elisa to get to her feet as well. He reached to his side where the kukri had been embedded and cringed. He turned his burning gaze back to her and lifted his gashed forearm. “Don’t think I’ll forget this. This what you did to Asami as well?”

  “I’m here for Asami,” said Elisa. She turned to Laohu, taking the pearl from her pocket and presenting it to him. “She’s dying.”

  “I know. I sensed it,” said Laohu. He motioned to Elisa’s recent opponent. “So did Taka.”

  “She said she needs your help,” said Elisa.

  “What’s happened to her?” asked Laohu.

  “Sun Wukong’s been released. Asami was trying to protect Ao Jun from him and he nearly killed her.”

  Laohu examined the pearl carefully before he locked eyes with Elisa. “If I help her, it will be as a result of your actions. Which means she will eternally be in your debt. You will become responsible for her actions—in the spirit world as well as the mortal. Are you willing to take on that responsibility?”

  Elisa glanced at the orb and considered this proposal. Could she handle that? Could she really take responsibility for anything Asami might do? But more than that, did she even have a choice in the matter.

  “Yes. I’ll do it.”

  “No, you can’t!” said Taka. “You can’t trap Asami into a life of servitude!”

  “Do you want her to die?” asked Elisa.

  “If it means she doesn’t become the lapdog of a mortal, then yes!” spat Taka. Already the wounds upon his forearm were beginning to close, the bone and flesh knitting together with a supernatural vitality.

  “Asami knows the consequences. Yet still she sent this mortal to me. This is a decision she has already made,” said Laohu.

  “Just do it already. We can’t waste any more time,” said Elisa.

  Laohu moved closer to the orb and opened his mouth wide. He breathed on it in a long huff. The orb’s pulsating glow slowly increased in its intensity until it returned to the brightness it had before Asami had been run through.

  Laohu stepped back and lowered his head in what Elisa could only assume was a bow. “It’s done. Asami is now your familiar. Your destinies are eternally linked.”

  “Thank you.” Elisa bowed herself. When she raised her body up again she was amazed to find that she stood once more in the lobby of White Tiger International amid a spray of glistening glass shards. Max stared at Elisa in surprise and when he looked to Asami, he was shocked to find her back in her human form, pinstripe suit and all. There was no sign of her former wound. It was as if she hadn’t been stabbed at all. Asami pulled herself to her feet and stood to face Elisa.

  “You knew what would happen, didn’t you?” asked Elisa.
>
  Asami nodded. “It was the only chance I had.”

  “Laohu said I’m now responsible for you now.”

  “That’s right. And I’m bonded to you and your bloodline for eternity,” said Asami. She looked at the orb Elisa held in her palm. “That’s what this pearl signifies.”

  “So that’s it? Any time you’re about to die, they can just magically save your life by breathing upon it?” asked Elisa.

  “It’s not that simple. I’m tied to you now, just as you are to me. We’re responsible for each other. What you did for me, it can’t be repeated.”

  “Then you’d better be more careful. I don’t want to face off against that Taka guy if the Monkey King kills you again.”

  Asami flexed her fingers and her hand grew into a foxlike state. “He got the drop on me, that’s all. It definitely won’t happen again.”

  “The drop on you...” repeated Elisa with skepticism in her voice. “I'm pretty sure he was just toying with me—could have killed me at any time—and nearly did kill you. I'm pretty sure that...”

  “We’d better hurry, he’s already got a head start,” said Max. “He’s killed Ao Jun. That means only three Dragon Kings left.”

  “And then Asia’s basically lost to the chaos of the oceans,” said Elisa.

  “That’s not gonna happen,” said Asami.

  “We have to find the other Kings, see if they can give us any insight into how we can stop Sun Wukong,” said Max.

  “Asami, do you have a way to reach them?” asked Elisa.

  Asami nodded.

  “Good, then contact them. Let them know what’s happened to their brother.”

  “My guess is they already know,” said Asami.

  “Can’t take any chances, and the sooner we get in touch with them, the sooner we can plan our next move,” said Elisa. “You have a place we can go to? Somewhere we can set up a base of operations?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got a penthouse here in Kowloon,” said Asami.