by Ino Lee
At mid-afternoon, they stopped by a pond to rest. Jaguan removed a flimsy bucket from his steed’s pack and drew a pail. Wong found it odd.
“I know your horse is strong and can carry a lot, Jaguan, but did you really need to bring a pail?”
“It serves a singular one-time purpose.”
Jaguan lifted a skin of water. He emptied it in the bucket.
“Chi water?” Wong asked.
“Yes, from the Emerald Pool, not Infinity. It has enough energy to freshen the mahzings though. The animals are receptive to chi.”
“Heh. It’s good you’re here to think ahead.”
“You, too, serve a purpose. Are we going the right way?”
Wong looked ahead and saw the faint outline of a mountain range in the distance—the Forbidden Mountains. He had almost forgotten they were headed to the Koon Kagi.
“Yeah.” He pointed. “Keep in this direction. It’s hard to see, but there’s a little bump in the ridge. Stay just to the right of it.”
“I see it.”
“I know a place we can hole up for the night.”
“Very well then.”
Jaguan went about his business and lifted the bucket to a mahzing.
Wong stared after him. Something was off. While they weren’t the best of friends, he didn’t expect Jaguan to be so tight-lipped while headed into the Koon Kagi. Normally there would be questions and arguments about their mission, not complacency. He figured he should be grateful for the reprieve, but instead felt unsettled.
They raced toward the Forbidden Mountains, making good progress. By late afternoon, grasslands gave way to dirt and rock, and the earth grew barren. The mahzings became increasingly skittish, uncomfortable in an environment so lacking in nature. Sundown hit and set the facade of the cliffs aglow in a bright orange haze, as if a great burning fire awaited them just beyond.
Wong felt more awake and alert now. He scanned the rock and guided them north. They traveled a little longer before he spotted a narrow path that carved deeper into the mountains. He tried to direct his mahzing down it, but the beast nudged back and turned away.
“The mahzing will not cross into such terrain,” Jaguan said. “We are lucky they have come this far. That is the disadvantage of riding such beasts.”
“That’s okay. They got us here in half the time. We couldn’t have traveled much further with them anyway.”
They dismounted and set the horses free. The steeds bolted off in the direction they came, eager to return to the grasslands.
“It is dark now,” Jaguan said. “There is cover for unan here. How long before we reach shelter?”
“An hour, maybe two. But I’m not sure unan are the only things we should worry about.”
Jaguan nodded, planted his staff, and took a step down the path without saying more. Tight-lipped, Wong thought again.
The path was straightforward at first, but soon turned ragged, until there was really no path at all. They climbed a ridge, crossed open ground, and rounded a rocky crest. The land was torn up and uneven, with numerous peaks, valleys, canyons, and crevices that cracked across the earth. Their path looked haphazard, but Wong knew exactly where they were going. Jaguan followed cautiously without summoning light, using the stars and his staff as a walking stick to manage.
A small fire appeared off in the distance. Wong stooped and squinted.
“Campfire?” Jaguan asked.
“Maybe. Or maybe a just a bush a dragon didn’t like.” He looked up at the sky. “They do that sometimes.”
They walked a little further and saw more fires.
“Suspicious,” Jaguan said.
“Maybe they didn’t like a lot of bushes.”
Jaguan shot him a serious look.
Wong conceded. “It’s not quite in the right direction, but perhaps we can take a closer look.”
They made for the fires and were still a ways off when Wong caught a familiar scent.
“Hold on. Do you smell that?” He reached for his demon mask.
“No, what?”
“Tar.”
The mask snapped to his face.
“I do not think it is wise, Wong. Now is not the time to experiment.”
“It sharpens my senses. Maybe I can detect them.”
When they were within reach of a fire, they saw the burning remains of an unan next to a rock wall.
They moved forward and spotted more tar pools ablaze.
“Three dead unan,” Jaguan said.
“We know the unan fled from the temple in this direction, at least.”
“How shall we proceed?”
Wong thought. “I don’t know. We gain nothing by following. They outnumber us and we’re better off going unnoticed. We have our target. We have our mark.”
“Perhaps then, we should get to our mark before the unan are able to return home and reinforce.”
“Perhaps . . . though I wonder, how many unan will make it back with fire dragons on their trail? This seems like a terrible plan for them. Something is off.”
An ominous groan came from above.
Fire showered down on them. Wong dropped to his knees and reached up with both hands, redirecting the blast into the side of the mountain. He lost sight of the dragon as it whisked by.
“Where’d it go?”
“It is circling round. Why is it attacking? Use the Dragon Arm.”
“It no longer responds. I can still manipulate fire at least. Better with this mask.”
He looked at his hands, noting how much easier it was to move the flames. The unan wasn’t called a fire god for nothing.
He pointed behind Jaguan. “South. I can see it.”
Jaguan didn’t look, but kept his eyes on Wong’s mask.
“I know why it attacks. It thinks you are unan.”
The monk turned at the approaching threat and irradiated the tip of the Phoenix Staff. A blast of flame spiraled toward them but was extinguished when it touched his light. The dragon broke off the attack and landed on a rocky crag across from them. Wong tore off his mask.
“Monk light,” the dragon said. “Humans. What business do humans have in the realm of the dragons?”
Its eyes focused on Wong. It slithered down to their level with a snakelike body covered in golden scales, sharp claws, and a fiery red mane.
“Man-Dragon. Why do you wear such a face? Why do you not bear the Dragon Arm?”
“Ro Lai,” Wong said, referring to the dragon by name. “It’s complicated.”
“Complications will cause you to burn. You are not known by all. The talisman grants you passage, not the man. And to wear the face of the demons, that is folly beyond all.”
“The demons attacked Shaolin. We think they crossed here. How did they pass?”
“I do not know from whence they came. They appear just now and have made great kindling. We chased them directly into the great mountain and thought them cornered, but instead they disappear.”
“Disappear?”
“Into the mountain. Crawled down some hole. At least a dozen.”
“Sixty-eight left Shaolin.”
Angry fire leaked from the dragon’s mouth, flashing between sharp teeth that protruded from its gnarl. Its mane flared and licks of fire caressed its scales.
“Maddening. It is dark and such creatures excel at concealment, but to lose such numbers is unexplainable.”
Ro Lai rose. It looked one more time at Wong and Jaguan.
“Such trespass will not go unpunished. Do not wear the face of the demons, Wong. Bear the Dragon Arm, for tonight, all shall burn.”
It took off soundlessly, slithering into the sky and was quickly lost.
Wong sighed. “Nice chat.”
“Your thinking was right before,” Jaguan said. “The unan would not
attempt to cross this land with such numbers. There is more to their disappearance, and the fact that the dragons have only discovered a few is strange.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the full force. Maybe it was a diversion.”
“A diversion how? There is no other way around the Forbidden Range except to go south through the Great Wall. And that is not an option.”
“I don’t know. I am as puzzled as you are. I’d say we should investigate, but perhaps we should leave that to the dragons tonight.” He cast a wary eye toward the sky. “We should take cover.”
“A wise decision. Dodging more fire is not palatable to me. We will fare better come morning.”
A rock formation with sharp pinnacles stood before them, like a great dragon claw that reached for the sky. It looked raw and inhospitable, and climbing it seemed as inviting as rolling through a thorny bramble.
“We’re here,” Wong said. “Home.”
Jaguan looked defeated. “Somehow that does not surprise me.”
Wong laughed. “It looks bad, but there’s a path up to a nice little cave. I had to choose a place someone wouldn’t just stumble across and take my stash.”
“The Forbidden Mountains and the fire dragons were not enough?”
“Some are daring enough to collect Yaje silk here.”
“Fair point.”
Wong carefully stepped onto a ledge. “You might want to summon light here.”
Jaguan illuminated the tip of his staff and followed. After hopping a few jagged obstacles, he found that the path became relatively easy. Near the top, they slipped through a crevice to the opposite side of the structure, where a great valley opened up before them. They navigated alongside a cliff wall to an opening, at the mouth of a cavern.
“An interesting place you choose,” Jaguan said.
He brightened his light and noted unhappily that the cave was big enough to house a dragon, though on the far wall a makeshift wooden barrier blocked entry to a space beyond. Wong made his way over and fumbled with it briefly before sliding it open, revealing a smaller cavern artery. Crates and barrels were stacked up against a wall. Jaguan wondered how long Wong had lived there.
“What is this place?” Jaguan asked.
He flashed a light orb to illuminate a tunnel.
“It’s not much bigger,” Wong said. “Just a few corridors. There are a couple of Yaje silk hammocks we can sleep on in back. I lived here while studying this region and the dragons. It’s where I made the Dragon Arm.”
Jaguan looked around curiously. “I see. Is that when you befriended Ro Lai?”
“Yes, though I am not sure I would say we were friends.”
Wong picked out an oil lantern from his supplies, lit it, and set it atop a large table chiseled out of the mountain rock itself.
“It’s funny how this place can still feel like home.”
“How long has it been since you were here last?”
“Years, but it feels like yesterday.”
They settled in. Wong made tea by heating coals in a furnace built into a wall. He then retrieved two stone cups and set them on the table.
He poured them a serving.
“So . . . what are you doing here, Jaguan?”
Jaguan wasn’t sure what to make of his directness. “If I recall correctly, this quest was your doing.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“You know why I am here.”
“Do I?”
“Not for your theatrics, that much is true.”
“What theatrics?”
“Walking into the Chamber of Minds and snapping on Shenren’s face, of all unan. Surely you knew there was a better way to approach this. You purposely sought to rile the elders.”
Wong hid a guilty smile. “Maybe so. My parting shot. But that doesn’t answer my question.”
“I said I agreed with you back in Shaolin. My motives are plain. What is it you truly want to know?”
Wong snickered. “Equally stubborn, you and I. I’ll be the first to break then . . . It’s not that I don’t want you here. I truly appreciate it. But it’s not like you to take on a task like this. What changed?”
Jaguan wrapped his hands around the stone cup, the warmth of the hot tea permeating through.
“I am not sure myself.” He paused and spoke again more reflectively. “It was something the master said. He said for us to come together . . . that was the only hope.”
Wong didn’t expect to hear that. He thought of Tienkow.
“That’s why you’re here?” he finally said.
“Maybe. Something different had to be done. The attack on Shaolin. The master. I should have prevented it. It was my duty.”
“There are many monks, many elders. We all failed.”
“I am Shoukoo.”
“I am Wong.”
Jaguan grinned. “The lo-shur would have been successful getting to Kai already—twice—if you had not been there. Perhaps it was time to listen to you. With due caution.”
“Caution? Just when I thought you were going to say something nice. You don’t trust me?”
“I worry we are driven more by our emotions, you and I, rather than sound thought.”
“How am I driven by emotion?”
“You were perhaps the mightiest warrior in Shaolin before your chi turned. I do not know what drives you; only you can answer that. But I cannot imagine what the feeling of being powerless has done to you. Perhaps you foolishly embrace the mask to feel the semblance of the power you once had. Perhaps you risk a hopeless mission because it is the only thing you can do and it does not matter if you die.”
Wong was surprised by his intuition. “Very perceptive, monk general. It is the only thing I can do. And it does not matter if I die. No matter what the risk, I will not pass up this chance to rid the world of the lo-shur that marked Kai. They cannot win. From now on, Kai is not the mark. The lo-shur that marked him is.”
Jaguan nodded. “Perhaps.”
“So if that’s how I am driven by emotion, how are you?”
“Revenge.”
Wong stayed silent for a while. “Finally we see eye to eye.”
Jaguan sipped his cup and then put it down. He wondered if opening up to Wong was a good idea.
“I have spent much time meditating on this, and a monk cannot decide by emotion. The Koon Gee have become too powerful and we can no longer sit idly by. In this, you were right, though I do not know if this is the right path.”
“At least it’s a path and we are doing something instead of waiting for the Koon Gee to gain the upper hand.”
“Perhaps.”
Wong rubbed his shoulder where Gaiman speared him, and pressed the hot cup against it.
“I don’t know how they’ve become so strong. More than expected. Surely you realize this.”
“I do.”
“It’s unprecedented.”
Jaguan waved at the heavens. “The universe ebbs and flows. In some eras, yin chi flows more freely than yang chi. Light overcomes darkness. In others, yang is stronger than yin. I fear we are already in an era of darkness.”
“Is that monk talk for saying we’re in trouble?”
“Grave trouble.”
“A hundred unan and a dark chi shard. I’d say you are right.”
“And that is why I am here.”
Wong nodded. “It’s good we had this talk.”
“Yes.”
“We are together on this then? Explorers searching for answers in the Koon Kagi, warriors seeking a mark. Two demon hunters?”
Jaguan raised his cup. “Demon hunters.”
10
ALL HE SAW was black. A face flashed in front of him and then disappeared. It wasn’t human. Movement stirred as the great beast circled. Wong recognized it though
he could not truly see it.
It came around to haunt him.
“Wong,” it said. “You are different now.”
“Where have you gone?”
“Our paths are separate, old friend. The time has come.”
“Come for what? What do you mean?”
“You know this already.”
Silence.
The dragon spoke again. “The path is yours to walk. I am not needed. I cannot help.”
“What am I?”
“An avatar.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Of darkness.”
Wong jolted forward, shaken from sleep. He sat up and cupped his hands to his face, staying still for a while. Sleep would not come easy.
Jaguan shifted, rocking gently in place, enveloped by strands of Yaje silk and suspended midair in a great hammock. Surprisingly, it may have been the most comfortable sleep of his life, which was not too difficult to imagine, considering he spent most of his existence on hard Shaolin beds.
A faint sliver of light encroached the dark, windowless cavern cell. Jaguan crawled out of the hammock with some difficulty, fumbling over the side. He found his war staff, then followed the light out of the cave, past the wooden gate, to Wong, who sat cross-legged in meditation with the Dragon Arm across his lap.
Jaguan looked out over the rocky valley and saw that it was already mid-morning. His silk-induced slumber kept him asleep much longer than expected.
“Silk hammocks comfortable, huh?” Wong said.
“Yes. Forgive me. I did not intend to sleep this late. You should have woken me.”
“I’m not exactly an early riser. I usually go to sleep about now.”
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to see if I can awaken the Dragon Arm. I hoped being in the land of the dragons would do something.”
Jaguan could tell by his tone that it did not. “Perhaps it will awaken when you need it most.”