by Ino Lee
An arrow shot up through the well and the demons scattered.
Hojin and Kai held their bows horizontally above their heads, scraping the sides of the walls with the ends to slow their decent. Fortunately, their bows were slightly longer than the diameter of the well.
“Are we there yet?” Kai said.
“Almost. Hold up.”
Hojin pressured his bow so he came to a stop. Kai did likewise.
“I could use a little light,” Hojin said.
Kai concentrated and summoned a tiny light orb close at hand, rays reflecting in the water not far below.
“I see it.”
Hojin let loose his bow, sprang onto the side of the well and catapulted himself into an old construction shaft dug above the waterline. Not many knew it was there, but Hojin and Kai had stumbled upon it several months before while sneaking out on a similar night and exploring the area.
“Come on. I’ll catch you.”
Kai looked up to make sure nothing followed. He looked down again, measured the distance, and made his move. He slid down for a few seconds, jumped onto one side of the wall, and sprang off it, hoping to catch Hojin’s arms. They made contact and Kai breathed a sigh of relief.
Hojin reeled him in and they started crawling.
The demons had cornered their prey but were annoyed by the inconvenience.
“It’s useless to hide,” the corrupted Buddha said in a friendly voice. “Come up and live, or drown and die.”
The unan let down the well bucket and waited. After a few moments, they grew impatient.
“Insolent children,” the red devil barked. “Get in the bucket!”
“We are wasting time,” a gruff gray mask said. Long strands of shockingly white hair flowed from its head.
“The Shaolin warriors will be mobilized. Go down and drag them out,” it ordered.
“You go down,” the devil said. “I will not go down the narrow hole and get my head shot.”
“Idiots!” the gray mask yelled. “Step aside.”
It wheeled the bucket back up.
“Lower me. I’ll grab the promised one and then wheel me back up.”
The unan stepped into the bucket on thin legs, thinking the bucket could be used to block incoming arrows. It looked straight up while descending so it would be difficult to find an angle for a shot at its mask, passing right by the adjacent construction shaft without noticing it. The bucket hit water.
“They’re not here!” it yelled.
It splashed its hands in the water.
“How can that be?” the devil said. “Are they drowned?”
“They are not here!”
It splashed some more.
Lafay spoke. “Concentrate you fools—the boy is marked.”
It stood in silence.
“Oh ha ha ha!” it laughed, then pointed not far away. “Clever, clever children. They are over there!”
The red devil sensed them too. “Yes, and they are getting away! After them!”
The crowd of demons sprinted away. A moment passed and all was silent again.
“Wheel me up!” the gray mask shouted from the bottom of the well.
4
KAI AND HOJIN ran as fast as they could. They emerged from the side of a hill to a narrow path through the open mountainside.
“We have to make it to the temple,” Kai said.
Behind them, an increasing number of masks followed; while Hojin estimated a dozen or so before, he guessed twice as many now. A mask popped up closer to the left, forcing them right. They would not make it all the way to the temple without facing resistance.
“There’s too many,” Hojin said. “Run to the Commons.”
Street lanterns signified the beginnings of the Commons, a communal center surrounded by low-level buildings that was made up of kitchens, training centers, living quarters, and weaponsmithing facilities. They were used mostly by Shaolin warriors that had not fully dedicated their lives to service at the temple or had not attained a high enough rank. Often, they were notable individuals that had come to train for a limited number of years at a time, offering their services as payment for the knowledge and skill attained. A contingent of such warriors gathered in the middle of the street, alerted by the temple’s horn blasts.
“Unan!” Kai yelled. “Unan!”
A warrior saw them and signaled the others. “There! Masked demons!”
The crowd stirred and rushed to help.
Seeing the Shaolin warriors join the fight, the unan separated and split up behind Kai and Hojin. Factions broke off to the right and left, disappearing behind the buildings, leaving a main force to face the brunt of the Shaolin onslaught.
Lu-fei was the first to reach the boys and urged them past him, away from the danger and down the street. He pointed at the rooftops of the buildings with his sword, reading the movement of the unan and signaling the warriors to mobilize.
“Dark assassins! That is their way! Don’t let them get to the rooftops and flank us.”
He charged the lead unan which wore a golden Buddha mask, its fat head a stark contrast to its skinny body. The rest of the combatants followed suit and clashed, dispersing into a riotous melee.
The Buddha demon waited, crouched low, and spread its gangly limbs into a spider-like form. Lu-fei slashed aggressively, but the demon pulled away, evading the onslaught, waiting for the right time to strike. Such was the fighting style of the unan—sneak away until it could stab you in the back. A green devil thrust a spear at him from the side, but he parried the blade and rolled away. Almost immediately, the Buddha head was on top of him, trying to flay him with short blades, but fortunately a Shaolin warrior stepped in and pushed it away.
A pitchfork came flying from the rooftop, impaling a warrior on the ground below. The red devil stuck its mask over the ledge and basked in its handiwork, then pulled back its head as unseen Shaolin warriors confronted it. Not long after, a monk flew off the roof.
On the left, two warriors dropped to the ground despite there being no demons nearby. Shian, the ranking monk, raised her hand toward a darkened window and summoned a ball of light to investigate. Two unan demons with blowguns were illuminated. They fired at her but she knocked aside the poison darts with her staff.
Hojin returned fire.
“No,” Shian yelled. “Back to safety.”
Several Shaolin fighters jumped through the window after the demons.
Lu-fei re-engaged the Buddha and slashed it across the abdomen, which did not faze it. He knew he must destroy the mask, but the unan was too wily. The demon thrust its short sword with a long arm, followed with the opposite, and repeated with the first, striking like a snake. Lu-fei shifted to avoid the final strike and cut off its hand, causing the short sword to fall to the ground. The unan angrily struck with its remaining hand and stabbed him in the shoulder.
Instantly Shian appeared with a chi spark on her staff. The demon lashed out, but was less effective with a single hand, allowing Shian to sheer her hot white staff across its body, burning it with chi energy. This time, the demon jumped back and wailed in pain. Lu-fei’s sword went flying and impaled its golden mask. The demon fell dead to the ground, its body losing form and decaying into a puddle of tar.
Simultaneously, all the masks in the street shot a glance at the fallen unan. The battle came to a sudden standstill and the Shaolin warriors backed off, wary and uncertain of the demons’ coordinated movement. A few demons dropped from the rooftops. More stepped out from the windows in a show of force. Knives, rapiers, tridents, and angular weapons of every kind appeared.
Lu-fei grabbed the fallen demon’s flayed short sword and backed away, holding the wound on his shoulder. Shian assisted him and studied the situation. While the unan reacted strongly to the death of a single demon, many more of their own lay on the floor.
They had to fight differently.
“Fall back,” she cried. “Away from the buildings. Protect Kai.”
She held a hand to her temple and concentrated, broadcasting a psychic message to the monks so that it could not be heard by the demons.
“Bring fire. There are torches in the armory.”
They backtracked a few steps, never taking their eyes off the sea of masks. Shian lifted her staff and flared a light orb high above the building lines as bright as she could make it, figuring one of the temple’s tower guards would see it and send help. The unan looked up and watched patiently, never moving from position. It did not bother them that the Shaolin warriors called for help.
“Something’s wrong,” Hojin said.
Kai broke from concentration. “They’re moving behind us!”
He turned and ran down the street with an arrow ready. Hojin followed and a group of Shaolin warriors splintered off with them.
Shian thought to protest but stopped; perhaps it was better that they try to get away. She held her ground without following, deciding it was more important to hold the line and prevent the bulk of the unan from collapsing. That was the best chance for Kai.
Looking at the multitude of crazed faces, she dug deep, knowing they were badly outmatched.
The demon with the gray mask and white hair moved in front, seeing their plan for ambush discovered.
It lifted a spear. “Kill them all!”
Calamity ensued and the opposing parties collapsed. As Shian was engulfed by a crowd of bodies and masks, her eyes turned to flame.
Kai and Hojin raced down the street.
“Do not let the unan box us in!” a warrior escorting them yelled.
“Make for the temple!” another said.
An opera mask stepped out from behind a building. It appeared as a human-like face, blue, with streaks of red and black. Kai released an arrow but the demon stuck out a hand to block; it looked amused when the projectile punctured halfway through, turning its hand sideways to admire it.
More masks appeared to close off the street. The Shaolin warriors engaged and tried to push through.
A monk emerged from a nearby building with fire in his hands—four burning torches. He threw two in the air to nearby warriors and handed out the rest, then turned back into the building for more.
“Ah,” one fighter said upon receiving the tinder. “Finally a weapon that can cause some damage.”
He rushed the nearest unan. The demon slashed and stabbed with a saber, but the warrior blocked and scorched the side of its arm, causing it to drop its weapon. Another torchbearer lunged and thrust his fire, twisting the flaming end into the meat of the demon’s body and igniting flesh, forcing the demon to stumble back and fall. Not only were the unan susceptible to fire, they were also partially flammable. A monk staff smashed its mask to pieces, turning the unan to burning goo.
Encouraged by the turn of events, the Shaolin warriors pressed past the demon blockade. A torchbearer led the way, waving his fire at two horned devils. The demons simultaneously raised their hands and concentrated to counter, feeling for the energy within the flame like the Shaolin monks, then slowly closing their fists to dampen the energy and extinguish the torch. The fighter got too close with a useless stick and the foremost devil thrust a knife through his neck.
The action grew chaotic, and Kai and Hojin found themselves lost in the storm. Everywhere they looked they saw violence. They ran with the crowd, but the number of Shaolin warriors began to drop as they were picked off and became bogged down in combat.
The boys turned a corner and made for the temple. A solitary Shaolin warrior was all that remained with them. The street was quiet and empty, which made Kai even more certain something bad would happen.
“Tai Chi Fountain,” Hojin yelled. “There should be more people on the other side.”
The fountain appeared on their right in the middle of an open courtyard.
“Do not divert for anything,” the warrior said. “Only to the temple.”
Suddenly he stumbled and fell. Kai stopped but Hojin was too far ahead to notice. A dart stuck in the warrior’s back. Kai frantically looked around but could not tell where the shot came from.
A black leg stepped out from the side of a building and tripped up Hojin. The white mask with the grinning face and red cheeks cackled hysterically as it lunged with a rapier. Hojin deflected the strike with his bow, but the pointed end landed in his thigh. He screamed.
Blood shot to Kai’s face and a light sparked in his eyes. He screamed and ran forward, firing off several rapid rounds. The first arrow stuck in Lafay’s back and caused it to flinch. The demon turned around to swipe a second that was aimed at the back of its head, then a third at its mask. Kai passed by a street lantern and plunged an arrow through the delicate glass casing, its tip touching oil and catching fire before flying into the demon’s core. The demon howled and dropped to the floor, rolling to extinguish the flame before it had a chance to take root. Another arrow hit and the unan ran for its life.
Hojin grabbed his thigh. He saw chi in Kai’s eyes shine like burning stars and almost couldn’t recognize him.
Kai noted that Hojin was alive, but his mind was elsewhere. He did not speak. He stopped, turned, and pulled back on his bow, aiming at a nearby building with his last arrow. Slowly, he shifted left as if tracking an invisible target. He let go and his arrow sped toward empty air. At the last moment, a green mask with fangs and a blowgun jumped out and was obliterated.
Hojin could not believe it. “Okay, maybe I was wrong about that training exercise.”
Kai stooped and lent him a hand, the light gone from his eyes. Hojin was unable to put weight on his leg, so Kai dropped his bow and took off his empty quiver. He unfastened the strap and tied it around Hojin’s leg.
“Can you walk now?”
“I think so.” He got up and stumbled. “Forget it. Run to the temple. They’re after you, not me.”
“No way.”
He put Hojin’s arm around his neck and they started limping across the courtyard. Hojin used his bow as a walking aid and tried to move faster, but the entire field of combatants was on the move and it seemed as if the entire Commons was besieged.
5
“I’M GOING TOO slow,” Hojin said. “Run without me.”
Kai wouldn’t let go. Across the courtyard, a friendly face appeared, lifting their spirits.
“Tofu!” they simultaneously yelled.
The friendly face caught up to them and lifted Hojin off his feet.
“Come on boys, have to move faster than that.”
Tofu was a burly warrior who carried a giant sword. Despite his intimidating frame, his face was kind, which played a part in earning him the nickname Tofu. In reality, he actually hated eating tofu, which made the name stick even more.
They made it past the Tai Chi Fountain and entered an area with kitchens and dining halls. Behind them, the gray mask with white hair now pursued, followed by a bird mask with quills of colorful feathers that protruded from its head.
“We’re being chased!” Hojin said. “An old guy and some kind of bird.”
Tofu tried to pull away, but he wasn’t the fastest warrior, and carrying Hojin only slowed him down. The unan closed the distance.
Hojin leaned back in Tofu’s arms and managed to find an angle for his bow. He fired at the gray mask’s leg and the arrow stuck, causing the demon to stumble. The bird reacted by letting out a shrill noise like the cry of an eagle, and plucked one of the feathers from its head. The feather’s root was made of pointed metal, which it flung at Tofu’s back. Hojin tracked the dart and batted it away with his bow, and the second one that followed. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep it up—and the bird had plenty of feathers.
From the top of the buildings sprang another figure. Hojin’s eyes widened a
s the shadow flew toward them. It landed on the bird’s back and forced it violently to the ground, then grabbed its head and repeatedly smashed it against the earth, pulverizing the mask and liquefying the demon.
Kai instinctively turned around. He knew exactly who it was.
“Wong,” he said.
The Weapons Master glared at them, then nodded.
“Chandu, keep them safe.”
He grabbed a fistful of the demon’s quills and whipped them at the white-haired mask, then bounded off after it.
Tofu turned and started off again, unsure of what do to next. Wong’s few words helped him focus on the gravity of the situation—it was the first time Wong had ever used his real name—Chandu—and he did not realize Wong even knew it.
He had to remain sharp and decided it would make sense to keep running toward the temple since help would come from that direction. Kai lagged behind, still looking back at Wong.
“Kai,” Tofu said. “Keep up. There is danger here.”
“There is danger everywhere.”
“I will get you to the temple. That is my promise.”
Wong looked for a weapon but had none. He supposed it would’ve made sense to have grabbed more of the unan’s pointed feathers, but it was too late now. The gray mask loomed ahead. The only thing in his pockets were the metal striker and bundle of leaves he was going to use to make tea for Tae. He could also look for the arrow shot through the demon’s leg earlier by Hojin, which had probably been removed and dropped on the ground. Though it would be of limited use without a bow, it was probably still in good shape and better than nothing, so he stored it in the back of his mind in case the need arose.
The gray mask waited for him with a spear. Its weapon was short and nimble, with a thin, sharp end. Unan rarely carried heavy weaponry except for tridents, preferring stealth and craftiness over brute force. It was not that they were weak—it was just a natural fit for their beings: their long limbs gave them extra reach, their bodies could sustain massive damage, and elusiveness was a necessity since their masks were vulnerable.