by Ino Lee
Next, the fighters had their turn and played the same game with flaming arrows. Aiying won the fighter’s round with equally dubious scoring, though it was not the first time she had won such contests.
“I bet I could win both games,” Kai said.
“In your dreams,” Hojin said.
After the contests were complete, the crowds began to disperse. Tofu appeared on hand to carry Hojin back to Kai’s room.
“This seems familiar,” Tofu said.
“At least this time we’re not being chased by unan.”
21
“OH KAI. WAKE up from your sweet little dreams, warrior of chi fai.”
Kai stirred. He thought he heard high-pitched laughing, but was too drowsy to care.
“Leave me alone, Hojin.”
“Oh Kai. Wake up, or I’ll cut your throat.”
Kai’s eyes popped open. It was dark so he flared a light orb and illuminated a stark white mask with red cheeks. He panicked and tried to scream but his mouth was muffled.
“Why Kai, don’t you remember me? It is I, the demon Lafay. You shot a flaming arrow into my belly.”
It gestured toward its stomach and rubbed it soothingly. An eerily high-pitched giggle emanated from somewhere behind its frozen grin.
Kai’s heart pumped loudly and he struggled to no avail. I must summon chi fire, he told himself. I must summon chi fire.
Another figure stepped in—a sleek black mask in the form of a panther.
“Stop wasting time.”
They gagged and bound him, ripping the vial of chi water from his neck and tossing him into a sack.
“Let’s go,” the panther barked.
Outside the door, another white theater mask waited, keeping watch. A large gaping hole formed its mouth, locking in an expression of frozen horror. It spoke in a thin and raspy voice, deeper than Lafay’s, and one that smacked of grief and desperation.
“We must hurry before we are all caught.”
To the right, the mask of a four-eyed black crow silently waited. The panther rushed out with a sack tossed over its shoulder. With the new theater mask in the lead, they moved down a stairwell quickly and stopped at the second floor of the temple. They peered around the corner, ran down a hallway, and turned toward a set of double doors that connected to the outer terrace.
“Stealth,” the panther grumbled. “There will be guards.”
They hunched low and ran without sound. The door cracked open and a blur of shadows whisked across the terrace, catching the attention of a guard. The dark figures leapt over the terrace railing, slid along the eaves, and grabbed the edge of the overhang to stop from spilling over. A light orb illuminated next to them.
“Unan!” the guard yelled from above. “Unan!”
The demons let go and dropped. Their light bodies and long rubbery limbs allowed them to absorb the impact of the fall. They ran but did not get far, as warriors moved in around them. An alarm sounded. More light orbs flared to halt them.
The panther moved the sack in front of it protectively, then held a dagger against it.
“Back off! I have your precious chosen one. Back off or I’ll stick him with a tainted blade.”
The white horror and black crow mask guarded the panther’s rear as the warriors inched closer.
The ranking officer, Xiong, held up a hand. “Easy. There is no escape—you are surrounded.”
“Back off!” the panther screamed again, threatening with its blade.
“Even if that is Kai, we cannot allow you to take him. Give up now. You have no options.”
“But I do. I can kill him now and it will be over. No one gets the chosen one and we still win. Choose death now or let us pass.”
A few guards arched their bows and took aim.
The panther mask shook the sack in anger.
“Lower your bows or I start stabbing. Lower your bows!”
Xiong signaled and they relaxed their grip. A nervous stalemate ensued. The unan began to inch toward the eastern gate.
More warriors emerged from the inside of the temple, summoned by the watchtower alarms. Li moved to the forefront and the warriors stepped aside, leaving him to take the lead in negotiations. The Shoukui studied the unan—their terrifying faces set aglow by numerous light orbs—and knew them. The panther was named Lau Gong, a fierce demon that was merciless in the jungle. He did not know the theater mask by name, but had seen its gaping howl before. Theater masks were stealthy by nature and the panther acquired the skills of its predatory animal, making them the perfect pair to remain undetected and snatch Kai when the time was right. The black crow, however, was an anomaly. Li had never seen it before. Crows weren’t known for stealth, but perhaps, like the panther, its completely black coloring helped camouflage it in the darkness. Something still seemed off about it. The unan carried a scepter, which was unusual compared to the light bladed weapons carried by most of the others. The weapon looked much like a monk staff, and Li wondered if dark chi water was contained within.
Above, the voices of temple guards rang out. Li understood—Kai was missing from his room. He looked at the bulging sack.
He reached a hand out to a nearby fighter and was given a sword; when the tower alarms initially sounded, he didn’t have time to grab a weapon. The Sword of Shaolin was being used to restore the Infinity Pool, so this one would have to do. He pointed it at the demons.
“What is your plan Lau Gong? Where will you go?”
“I do not need a plan. I have the advantage. Do not take me for a fool.”
“Leave the boy and you may pass unharmed. That is my offer.”
“I said do not take me for a fool, yet you do. If I kill the boy now, we gain the upper hand. It does not matter what happens to us after.”
The panther jabbed at the sack.
“We have already won,” the horror mask said to the panther. “Let us all die together.”
Li relented. “Fine then. What is your play?”
Lau Gong growled. “Let us go. Open the gates.”
“We cannot do that.”
“Either Kai dies now, or you let him live and have a chance to get him back . . . if you can.”
“Death, panther,” the white mask said. “Kill him and let us be done.”
The Shoukui raised his hand. Losing Kai was not an option. They had no choice.
“Wait.” He motioned to the eastern gate. “Open it.”
“Open them all,” the panther growled.
Li conceded. They would not get far; there were too many Shaolin warriors around. A moment of vulnerability would present itself, and when it did, he would be there to kill them.
“Open them all,” he echoed.
Slowly the gates swung open. From where they stood, the unan looked nervously back and forth between the eastern and southern gates. The warriors waited patiently, unsure of demons’ next move.
Li pondered the best way to take the demons down. Close combat was difficult—the unan would see it coming and simply stab Kai. Their only choice might be a coordinated attack with an arrow from afar to take down the panther, but the risk was high. Unan had the uncanny ability to sense and dodge arrow attacks, and there was always the possibility of Kai being used as a shield.
He caught the eye of an archer and nodded to keep him ready. Now it was the unan’s move.
The demons stood still. There was electricity in the air. The crow mask moved to the forefront, raised its arms, and shook its scepter. A tassel of feathers was attached to the end of staff and flapped with the wind. Soon a curious rumble could be heard, like rolling thunder. Something bad was about to happen.
The warriors peered at the sky and saw the stars disappear from the east. Harsh, disharmonious cawing followed—crows—hundreds of four-eyed birds, maybe even thousands. They swept down on the temple courtya
rd and blurred the landscape, pecking and clawing at faces, circling the temple in a swarm of fury.
Li ducked low and blocked his face as the unan took off.
“Don’t lose them!”
“South!” a warrior yelled.
They pursued, finding it difficult to see through the flurry of activity. Li swatted aside a crow and ran with his head down at the cobblestone courtyard. Closer to the southern gates, the body of a fallen Shaolin warrior could be seen, run down by the masked demons.
Xiong appeared.
Li called out to him. “Xiong! Arrows. We must get a clear shot and move in to free Kai.”
“I have these.”
He produced two throwing axes, singular pieces of perfectly weighted metal, sleek yet heavy. He whacked a bird in an explosion of feathers.
“I can take out a leg if we get close enough. That will be more reliable than an arrow. That will be your opportunity to take Kai.”
“Good,” Li said. “But if the panther falls, the other masks will move in on Kai. We need more distraction.”
Xiong whistled and signaled to two of his archers.
“White mask, crow mask,” he instructed. “On my mark.”
He turned back to Li.
“The arrowheads have been soaked in chi water. That will slow them down.”
Li ducked a crow. “Their shot will be compromised like this.”
“I can clear the birds at the right time,” a voice said.
Shian’s light orb gleamed behind them.
“Excellent,” Li said. “Xiong and I up front. Shian and archers supporting. Move together as one.”
The hill sloped downward. The unan tracked west toward the outskirts of the southern quarters, avoiding the more precarious man-made roads. Though they ran quickly, they could be easily spotted, pursued by numerous Shaolin warriors with light orbs.
“Shian, tell them do not engage until our move. Track and distract only.”
Shian’s staff and eyes grew bright as she relayed the message with her mind.
Before long, sumos and Shaolin warriors appeared, guards drawn from the southern perimeter, cutting off the path of the unan. The demons veered sharply west, giving Li’s team an angle to intercept.
Li and Xiong barreled ahead. The unan were within range.
Shian jumped high and thumped the butt of her staff against the earth as she landed, crying aloud and sending a pulse of scattered energy. A dozen crows fell from the sky. The archers took aim and let arrows fly.
The unan with the crow mask cawed, an arrow piercing its back. The birds’ formation loosened, affected by the break in their master’s concentration. Another arrow flew at the horror mask, but the demon instinctively rolled to the side, tipped off to the danger by its comrade’s caw.
Xiong unleashed his ax with fury—his full concentration locked in on Lau Gong—chi funneling into every muscle to enact the perfect throw. The blade whipped across the air and sliced effortlessly through the unan’s lower leg, causing the demon to stumble. Li was on it in an instant. The horror mask lunged with a spear to thwart the rescue, but Li caught it with his sword. An arrow pierced the unan’s back and caused it to flinch, allowing Li time to grab the fallen sack and pull it away. Xiong moved in with his remaining ax and hit the horror mask squarely between the eyes, splitting its face in two.
The crow demon regained control and sent a flurry of birds in every direction, then moved over to help Lau Gong escape while its leg reconstituted. Xiong recovered his thrown ax and continued the chase with the other warriors, knowing that Kai was safe with the Shoukui.
Li stopped and made sure there was no danger. The mass of crows was annoying, but lessened as the demons pulled away. Shian came over with light at the tip of her staff and cast it on the recovered sack. They felt a wave of relief at the first signs of life and movement. Li eagerly opened the top to reveal . . . Hojin, gagged and bound.
Not Kai.
Lafay looked back at the temple and laughed. It slung Kai, in a familiar-looking sack, over its shoulder, and continued down the northeastern edge of Mount Shaolin.
When the temple gates had originally opened, Lafay sneaked out the northern end using the storm of crows as the perfect cover. It navigated through the outer edge of the northern quarters, careful to stay away from the more heavily populated Commons, then turned sharply east when the coast looked clear. Fortunately, the commotion of the temple drew the warriors’ attention inward, making it easy to breach Shaolin’s perimeter security.
Though it preferred the comfort of the swamp, the open mountainside was a relief; for five days, it had holed up inside a tight barrel in the temple’s cellars with the other unan. For brief periods at a time, during the darkest hours of the night, they would leave their hiding places to explore and plan their next move. Lafay and Lau Gong did most of the scouting, identifying Kai’s room by the third night. When the warriors began to move out of the courtyard into the Commons, they knew their chance to escape had arrived. They waited one more night for the warriors to clear out, then executed their plan.
Lafay moved quicker now, feeling more confident about its chance to escape. It mulled over its plan to reach the Koon Kagi. Ahead of them lay many miles of open grassland, making it difficult to hide due to unbroken sight lines. It could turn north and hug the coast, but that would add too many miles to their trip. A direct line to their secret tunnel in the Forbidden Mountains was best. It would travel as fast as possible at night, and take cover in tall patches of grass during the day.
The demon lengthened its strides and ran to the fullest, pulling away from Shaolin. It would take at least two days to reach the secret mountain pass. Fortunately, Kai was not heavy, though the weight atop its lengthy frame did make travel awkward. It wondered what had become of its comrades, thinking it would have been nice to have shared the load with Lau Gong. An ogre or god mask would have been even better for carrying the weight, but a panther would do. Nevertheless, it was all alone now and must do whatever possible to reach the Koon Kagi.
Kai struggled to no avail, his hands bound behind his back and his feet tied together. For a while now, he tried summoning chi fire, hoping to engulf Lafay in a ball of flaming light energy, but he had little control over his abilities and being bound and gagged made it even tougher. A change in tactic was needed; if he could not free himself, then he would call for help. Screaming was not an option, but perhaps he could summon a light orb to attract attention. He concentrated, finding it difficult to focus his energy without being able to see the light or use his hands. He twisted in the sack so that his hands pointed upward and then cupped them, funneling energy as if they were free. Though Kai could not see the bright light that burned above their heads, a shout from Lafay told him it was successful.
“Cut your light,” Lafay said in an abnormally gruff voice. “Cut your light or I’ll knock you unconscious.”
He received a sharp elbow in the back. Lafay dropped the sack and kicked it.
Kai groaned and the light went out.
Lafay glanced around frantically, wondering if they had been spotted. When the light first appeared, it had taken a moment for the demon to realize the orb was coming from Kai. Though it had not been up for long, any amount of time was too much.
“Stupid boy. If you do that again I will kill you. I can drag you all the way to the Koon Kagi unconscious if that is what you wish.”
Another jab was delivered, then silence. The demon was undoubtedly checking for signs of pursuit.
Lafay’s demeanor suddenly changed. Kai felt a hand brush up against his face. Its high-pitched voice returned.
“I’m so sorry Kai. Did I hurt you?”
More brushing and then a giggle.
“I have a marvelous new idea. We’ve taken Hojin too. Each time you shine your light, Hojin loses an eye. If he runs out of eyes, why, he
has plenty of little fingers!”
Lafay’s high-pitched giggle rang with no end, followed by Kai’s muffled screams.
22
“HOJIN, WHERE IS Kai? Do you know?”
The Shoukui held the boy in his arms as they raced back to the temple.
“I . . . I don’t know. I was asleep. It happened so fast.”
“What demons took him? How many were there?”
“It was dark.” He struggled to remember. “It was Lafay.”
“Good, were there others? What can you tell me?”
“The one that was carrying me was in the room. I recognized the voice. It gagged and tied me while Lafay went to Kai.”
“What happened next? Where did they go?”
“There were more unan outside the door. One had a shaky voice. We went down the stairs, but I don’t know where Kai was after that.”
“He wasn’t with you?”
“I didn’t hear him.”
“Was Lafay with you?”
“No.”
They reached the outer gates. Li handed Hojin to a guard and called out to the others.
“Spread out! Search all directions. Lau Gong was a distraction. Lafay has Kai.”
He continued through the temple, instructing warriors and taking a few of their supplies as he passed them, reemerging from the northern entrance. Shian followed him across the courtyard.
“How do you know Kai went this way?” she asked.
“I do not. But the demons ran their diversion south and Kai’s window faces north. I believe Lafay climbed down the outer wall. It’s a hunch.”
Li took a northeastern path through the warriors’ quarters, figuring Lafay would head to the Koon Kagi. The outlines of buildings from the Commons appeared on their right, filled with numerous crooks and shadows where an unan could hide. The task of finding Lafay seemed impossible.