by M. Lynn
Because she now knew why they’d come.
This man also had a Nagi inside him.
The man did not speak again as he led Hua into the monastery. Flames flickered to life from the torches that hung along the walls of the long, dark hall.
Cold seeped through the stone walls, and Hua wanted more than anything to turn around and escape from this place.
The child ran behind them, his little footsteps breaking through the eerie silence.
The old man turned into an open doorway, and Hua’s heart stuttered. A sea of red-patterned carpeting stretched across the room where large bamboo chuang benches sat in front of a roaring fire. Decorative stone provided the railings to the furniture where four red-robed monks sat soaking in the warmth.
The old man gestured Hua forward, and the Nagi propelled her body past high cherry wood shelves filled with leather-bound tomes and papyrus scrolls.
The monks at the fire finally took notice of the stranger in their presence and scrambled to their feet. They bowed, none of them uttering a single word.
“They are under a vow of silence,” the old man said. “None of them will speak to you.” He turned to the bowing men. “You may go back to your studies, brothers.” The monks dispersed to where books sat on the floor near the fire.
“What is this place?” The question wasn’t the Nagi’s, and Hua shocked even herself by managing to push it past her lips.
The old man cocked his head, his intense gaze latching onto her as if he saw all her secrets. “Lóng Bǎolěi.”
She already knew the name of the monastery but couldn’t get another question out. As if sensing her frustration, the old man smiled. “I am Master Delun. Welcome to our home.” He put a hand on the small boy’s head. “This is Boqin. I expect you are staying?”
The Nagi nodded, but Hua wanted to scream, to tell this strange man and his friends they couldn’t keep her here.
“We are pleased to host both of you.” Hua’s eyes widened, or at least she thought they did. He knew. “We have much to discuss, but first, warm yourself. Boqin and I will get you something to eat from the kitchens. It will not be much, I’m afraid.”
The Nagi bowed her head. “We have been on the road for weeks. Your hospitality is appreciated.”
The man smiled again before ushering the boy away, giving Hua the chance to hammer against the Nagi’s wall once more.
The Nagi rubbed her temples. “That causes me pain, Hua Minglan. Stop.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Have I hurt you? At least I didn’t take over your life and force you into Koulland to some strange mountain fortress no one knows about.”
“Do not be a child. Soon, you will not have to worry about me at all.”
“What does that mean?” Hua practically growled the words. “What are you going to do?”
The Nagi ignored her as she moved toward the fire, holding her frozen fingers out in front of it. The monks didn’t pay the Nagi any mind as she joined them, sitting on the soft carpet and shrugged the furs off her shoulders.
Warmth from the fire thawed her icy limbs, but Hua’s mind was elsewhere.
“Heima?” she asked, realizing the Nagi left the horse out in the cold.
Master Delun returned. “Is that the name of the haggard horse you rode in on?” Had Hua said her name aloud?
The Nagi nodded. “The human in my mind is worried about her beast.”
“It’s not your mind,” Hua screamed despite no sound leaving her mouth.
Master Delun watched on in sympathy. “Don’t worry, dear. Your friend has already been taken to our stables where she will be given fresh hay and water. We heat the stables with coal in order to keep our mules from succumbing to the cold, so don’t worry about her.”
The Nagi took an offered porcelain cup from Boqin and sipped the steaming tea. Hua felt the heat slither through her and sighed in relief. “This human worries about many things. I have a lot I must accomplish and cannot do it with her moral questions constantly holding me back.” She set her tea on the tray next to a plate of dried meat. “I wish to rid myself of her.”
“Ah.” Master Delun lowered himself to the floor beside her and held a cup of tea against his lips. “A Nagi’s pursuits are noble pursuits and must be held to greater import than those of the humans.”
Hua cried out for escape, but it was like a hand clamped around her throat, choking the sound at its source. Tears built in her eyes, but the Nagi wiped them away before they could fall.
“So.” Master Delun wrapped an arm around Boqin. “You have sought out the only Nagi you felt in this world in hopes I can train you to wipe the human from your mind?”
“Only then will I be able to fulfill my purpose.”
“And what purpose is that?”
The Nagi leaned forward, her voice deepening. “Our people have been hunted and destroyed. Anyone with a connection to us has been slaughtered time and again. I could not protect them before coming to this earth, but the time has come for a reckoning.”
Master Delun continued to sip his tea. “Hmm. Interesting. And what will this reckoning consist of?”
“Revenge. I will bring Piao to its knees.”
Hua shrank away from the words, unable to pull them back, to make them not true.
The Nagi was going to destroy her home. The only question was how.
And if she succeeded in her mission, Hua wouldn’t be around to stop her.
13
Hua
Hua needed to see Heima, to make sure she was okay, but they’d been here for days, and no one seemed concerned about what she wanted.
The monks continued in their silent study, walking through the cold stone halls with measured steps, almost like a dance.
Boqin, Hua had come to learn, was a child orphaned when his village in Piao turned on his parents upon learning of their dragon blood. Master Delun, traveling the region at the time, saved him.
That could have been her if things went differently. What if the village of Zhouchang had learned of her family’s heritage? Would the shopkeepers her father frequented betray him? Turn him in to the emperor?
When her family first received a summons to Dasha for the dragon festival, they’d worried they’d been found out, that their secret belonged to them no longer. And still they went. For Luna. If the emperor knew the Minglans had dragon blood, what would he have done to her?
Luna should have been standing here right now, not Hua. She’d have known what to do. Hua shivered as an icy blast lifted the hair from her neck. Standing on a balcony overlooking the vast valley between two of the Shan Mountains, she longed to run away. To force the Nagi out of her body so she could cross that valley and disappear, forgetting the things she’d felt her hands do.
Blood was sticky and warm. It carried life with it as it poured from small slits in the skin. She tried to close her eyes but couldn’t as she pictured Luca’s men lying dead in the grass beyond her family’s charred home.
How much responsibility did she bear for their deaths? How much guilt did she owe the world?
Jian and Luca… her family… none of them would ever see her the same way.
Good, she thought. If they remembered her as a monster maybe it would hurt them less when she didn’t return.
Master Delun stepped up beside her, but when he spoke, she had no illusions that the words were for her. They were from one Nagi to another, one body-usurper to another.
“Clear your mind,” he whispered. “Focus only on the human inside.”
Hua strengthened her thoughts, sending them bouncing in every direction inside her own head. Murderer. Traitor. Beast.
The Nagi rubbed her forehead. “She is strong.”
“But you are stronger.”
Not a chance. Hua refused to fade away like she was never there at all.
“It’s not working.” The Nagi groaned. “Pain… that’s what I feel when I think of her. She’s flashing through memories of every time she’s been hurt in life. The f
ear… is this really how humans live?”
“Their existence is full of turmoil.”
A snowflake landed on her cheek, melting instantly, but it wasn’t alone. Hua tried to urge the Nagi to ask to go inside where the fire never seemed to go out in the library, but it was no use. She couldn’t make herself move.
The Nagi turned to Master Delun. “Why have you stayed?”
He pulled his fur wrap up to cover the bottom half of his face. “I do not understand the question?”
“We Nagi have missions. Once we complete them, we can choose to leave this plain of existence and all its… turmoil behind.”
He was quiet for a long moment, and Hua strained to hear him, needing to know about this whole Nagi can leave thing. “My human and I… we have an understanding that works quite well for us. And we do not yet know if we have completed our mission.”
“That’s impossible,” the Nagi scoffed. “Humans do not make accords with Nagi. I have to constantly fight to remain in control of this mind.” She tapped her head.
He sighed. “It is possible, young one. You come to Lóng Bǎolěi seeking a way to rid yourself of the human this body belongs to, yet you do not plan to stay once your mission is complete. Explain why I should help you.”
“I was sent here to avenge our descendants, the hunted and the slaughtered. I cannot do that with a human and her odd sense of morality holding me back. They seem to think it’s okay to wage war against other empires, killing warriors and innocent civilians alike, but then question themselves when faced with doing what is necessary to their fellow Piaoans.”
The Nagi stepped forward and leaned against the stone wall surrounding the balcony. Snow and ice covered the surface where she rested her arms, caring little for the cold. “They think their greatest enemy is the Kou, but what separates Koulland and Piao but an invisible line in the mountains? No, their greatest enemy is the empire they pledge loyalty to. If our duty is to protect Piao, do we not need to protect them from themselves?”
Master Delun didn’t get a chance to respond as the heavy oak door flung open and Boqin stood on the threshold breathing heavily.
“Boqin, what is it?” Master Delun turned to face him.
“There’s a sickness in the barns. Two mules, five sheep, and a horse were found dead in their stalls.”
Heima. Fear coursed through Hua. She couldn’t lose the last connection she had to her old life.
Master Delun put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Follow our guest to their room and make sure she has dinner.” He sent the Nagi an apologetic smile. “Our animals are the greatest source of food for us. I must see to this.”
“Of course.” The Nagi bowed.
Hua screamed at the Nagi to go after him, to follow him to the barn and make sure Heima was okay. She hammered against the walls in her mind until all strength left her and she shrank into a dark corner where she could hope all of this would end soon.
Hua groaned as she rolled over on the hard bed and froze. She groaned. She groaned.
Lifting her head off the scratchy pillow covering, she surveyed the dark room with its sparse furnishings consisting of a single cot and a small desk. The stone walls closed in around her.
A smile spread across her face. She’d never been happier to feel a rough woolen blanket scraping against her skin. Because it was hers. Not the Nagi’s. This body belonged to Hua Minglan. Lifting her hand, she flexed her fingers, cracking her knuckles one at a time.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been able to do that.
Not even the chill of the room could dampen her spirits. Sliding out from under the blanket, she set her bare feet against the cold stone floor and stood.
The wool robe Master Delun provided for her to sleep in settled around her legs. Tentatively, she stepped forward, enjoying the flexing of her calves and even the shivering of her body.
Because for so long, she’d felt almost nothing.
Immediately, she thought of how she could get out of the creepy silent monastery. Inching toward the door, she pushed it open, revealing a long, narrow hallway devoid of any light.
Slipping into her boots by the door, she stepped into the hall. There was no one to stop her or make her turn back, and only one thought kept her moving. Heima. She had to get to her horse. No one had come to tell her if the sickness in the barn had reached Heima, and she’d spent most of the night worrying over her friend.
She pushed her way into the inner sanctum of the monastery, a courtyard open to the sky. Black roses that seemed to have no problem blooming in the harsh weather sat covered in a fresh dusting of snow.
Hua hurried through the deep snow in the odd garden to part of the monastery she hadn’t yet seen. When she stepped inside again, melting snow coated her hair. But she didn’t care. Not when she could feel it for the first time.
Forcing her stiff legs into a run, she sprinted down the back hall where the monks’ dormitories branched off. At the end of the hall was a door that led to the outside and, she hoped, the stables.
When she forced the heavy door open, freezing air rushed in, sending a flurry of snow across the hall. She didn’t hesitate before stepping out and yanking the door shut.
Her eyes found the barn, its white paint standing out against the darkness of the night. A cracked sliding wooden door separated her from the animals inside. She used every bit of strength she possessed to pull it open, letting a waft of animal smells escape.
Choking at the scent, she pulled her robe up to cover her mouth and nose before entering the barn. Hay littered the ground, escaping from the bales stacked against the far wall. How did they get supplies this far up in the mountains?
Sheep bleated as she walked past their pen. Rows of mules stood in warm stalls. She didn’t know how they kept the barn from freezing. Maybe hot coals like they’d mentioned, or some kind of dragon magic. She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the thought.
Dragons might exist, but there was no such thing as magic.
When her gaze connected to familiar brown eyes, her entire body sagged with relief. “Heima.” She ran toward the stall and fumbled with the lock before pulling it open.
The horse backed away from her.
“It’s okay, girl.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “It’s me. I promise.”
Heima took a step toward her, her movements cautious.
“I don’t know how long I have, girl.”
The horse lowered her head, rubbing it against Hua’s shoulder. Hua threw her arms around her friend’s neck. “I missed you,” she whispered.
Heima’s warm breath melted the remaining snow in Hua’s hair.
“I won’t let the Nagi erase me.” She pulled back to meet the understanding brown eyes. “I’m not so easy to get rid of.” Running a hand down Heima’s nose, she didn’t hear the footsteps coming her way.
A throat cleared, and Hua turned to find Master Delun watching her. She shrank back against the horse, but as she looked at the old man, something was different.
And she knew what it was.
“Your Nagi,” she breathed.
He nodded. “Tonight, I am truly Master Delun, not the dragon sharing this body. Come, Hua Minglan. We have much to discuss.”
Hua hesitated, not wanting to leave Heima.
“Your friend is well cared for. The sick animals have been removed and we turned over all the hay. She’ll be okay.” He gestured to the door. “Please, come.”
Hua kissed the side of Heima’s nose. “Love you, girl.” She followed Master Delun from the barn and across the snowy landscape. He led her through the maze that was the monastery and into the library where a fire blazed in the hearth, emitting an orange glow.
She rushed toward the warmth, holding her hands out to rid herself of the ice rushing through her veins. At least with the Nagi controlling her, she’d been spared most of the discomfort on the journey here. Now, every blast of cold, every ache and pain was magnified as if hitting her all at once.
>
Master Delun slid the door shut and waited with a finger pressed to his lips. After a moment, he nodded. “We are alone.”
Hua wondered if she was ever truly alone. She searched the recesses of her mind for the Nagi, finding only silence. A breath rushed out of her.
“Have a seat, child.” Master Delun gestured to one of the long benches. The seat was as deep as a bed but much harder. The mute monks seemed against any sort of comfort.
Hiking the ends of her robe up, Minglan climbed onto the bench and scooted in until her back hit the carved rail. Many questions ran through her mind as she watched the old man stoke the fire. “How am I here? How are you here? What is this place?”
Master Delun leaned the fire iron against the wall beside the hearth and turned to her. The square sleeves of his robe covered his hands save for the tips of his fingers. He pulled them up as he sat on the bench facing her. “What has your Nagi told you?”
“Nothing useful. She came here to rid herself of me so she can destroy my kingdom.”
He pursed his lips. “Ah, a young Nagi. They are rather passionate.”
“Passionate? She destroyed an entire village, killing all those within.”
Sadness curved his lips down. “Piao has not been kind to those like us, Hua.” She started to protest, but he held up a hand to stop her. “That is not to say revenge is needed. But your Nagi’s desire for it is understandable. Mine, on the other hand, is an old Nagi who has been with me for many years. He desires nothing but solitude and silence as he waits to complete his mission. We are one.”
“I don’t want this thing. I want my family.” Jian. She’d tried not to think of him, but it was hard when she had little to do but think and remember.
“You asked me how you are here.” He paused. “A Nagi must sleep—though less than us—and that is when they are at their most vulnerable, their minds having less control. The day is theirs, but the night is very much ours.”
That was why the Nagi refused to sleep on their journey. She had known. Now that they were here, she must have been too exhausted to fight.