Lion

by Jeff Stone

  I shouted to Hú Dié, “I’m out! You’re going to have to pull the team from here.”

  She looked concerned. “Dragon … you know?”

  “No,” I said. “Mechanical failure.”

  “Huh?”

  “Falling off!” I shouted, and I pulled out of line. I rose up out of my saddle and hammered with all my might. At the same time, I wrenched my gearshift all the way down. My chain skipped and began to flap, skittering over the rear wheel’s gear sprockets. I wrenched the gearshift all the way back up, and the chain suddenly caught. The transition from floppy and loose to guitar-string taut was too much.

  SNAP!

  My chain broke just like I’d experienced weeks ago on my mountain bike in Indiana. Except this time, I was ready for it.

  I stopped pedaling as I swerved even farther to the side. Phoenix shot me a questioning glance, while Jake shouted, “We’ll win this thing for you, bro!”

  And then they were gone.

  I pulled onto a dark side street as the main peloton rocketed past. I was panting like a dog, trying to catch my breath. I always seemed to be more winded when I stopped than when I was riding.

  I climbed off of my bike and saw that the chain had managed to wrap itself around my drive sprocket, so I freed it. I took a quick look at the chain in my bike’s light and found that the chain hadn’t broken, after all. The quick-release master link had simply popped open. I closed it back up, repositioned the chain, and hit the road again, heading for DuSow’s warehouse. I needed to get to Peter before the race finished and before DuSow realized I was gone.

  I steered through the rainy darkness and caught a downhill slope toward the waterfront. I rode fast without encountering a single car or pedestrian to slow my progress, arriving in DuSow’s brightly lit warehouse parking lot. I zipped around the building to the dock and felt a jolt of excitement as I read the name on the back of the boat: THE STRONG HOLD.

  I slowed and heard a splashing sound from the direction of the building.

  I turned to see DaXing running toward me, sloshing across the pavement. I tried to veer away, but the ground was too slick. I went down.

  I managed to kick myself free of the bike and pop onto my feet before he was on me. I dropped into a low Horse Stance and raised my right knee to my chest. Then I thrust the ball of my foot toward his liver with a powerful front kick. He was agile for such a large guy, and he twisted to one side, avoiding my kick and retaliating with a roundhouse kick of his own.

  This was the same kick Hú Dié had taught me to catch, so I raised my arm and let his leg connect with my rib cage, just below my armpit.

  Big mistake.

  CRUNCH!

  I thought I felt a couple of ribs crack, and what little air my tired lungs had managed to collect was forced out of my mouth. My body went into autopilot, though, and I completed the sequence of moves I’d practiced a few thousand times with Hú Dié. My arm wrapped around DaXing’s thick leg, and I took a giant step backward.

  DaXing hit the ground. I released his leg and jumped onto his chest. My dan tien began to vibrate uncontrollably, and I formed hammer fists with my hands. I rained blow after blow on his face, head, and throat until he stopped moving.

  I climbed off of him and watched his chest. He was still breathing. I was glad.

  I hugged my aching side and ran over to the dock. There didn’t seem to be a captain or anyone else aboard, but I was hopeful that Peter was somewhere inside. The boat rose and fell steadily, and I got the rhythm down before jumping onto the back deck. I didn’t know a thing about boats, but this one didn’t seem too large. I headed to an enclosed cabin, but when I reached to grab the doorknob, the door flew open.

  Lin Tan stepped out into the rain holding a large pistol. Clean bandages crisscrossed his otherwise bare torso.

  “Fancy seeing you here, Ryan,” he said. “Why aren’t you racing? Couldn’t handle the heat, so you had to get out of the kitchen?”

  “No,” I replied. “I couldn’t focus on crushing a bunch of riders, so I came here to crush you.”

  “Very funny.” He pointed the gun at me, and I watched it bob up and down as the boat bobbed with the current.

  Up.

  Down.

  Up.

  I slammed the heel of my palm into Lin Tan’s gun-hand wrist. The pistol flew from his hand, into the bay.

  “Why you little …,” he said, and he swung a fist at my face.

  I spun sideways and lifted my arm to deflect the blow. His fist hit my forearm, and my forearm hit the side of my head. I saw stars, but I didn’t go down.

  Lin Tan stepped in close to me, and I responded with the only close-distance move I knew. I raised my right knee and stomped my reinforced shoe into the side of Lin Tan’s left kneecap with a knee-trap kick.

  He wailed and teetered sideways, and I pounded hammer fists onto the bridge of his nose until it erupted with a crimson bloom that covered both of us. His eyes crossed, and he stumbled toward the boat deck railing and the dock beyond. He gripped the railing, then slumped, unconscious, with half of his body in the boat and the other half draped over the railing.

  I ran into the cabin and found Peter bound to a kitchen chair that had been screwed to the floor. He was gagged, and his arms and legs were tied, but he was alert. He nodded to his left, and I saw a small galley counter. I opened a drawer beside the sink and found a large knife; then I cut Peter free.

  “Thank you,” Peter said with a sigh.

  “No, thank you,” I replied. “Do you have wheels?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I don’t need them.”

  Peter dropped out of the chair and began to army-crawl toward the door. I hurried ahead of him to hold the door open and froze.

  On the dock was DuSow.

  DuSow stood alone in the rain, the light of the warehouse’s new security flood lamps illuminating him and the dock. I glanced back at Peter. “DuSow is out there!”

  DuSow laughed. “All aboard!”

  I stepped back into the cabin and closed the door, fumbling for the lock.

  “No use,” Peter said. “It’s DuSow’s boat. He has a key.”

  “Can we block the door with something?” I asked.

  “It’s a boat, Ryan. All the furniture is nailed down.”

  I grabbed the large knife I’d used to cut Peter free and flung the door back open, ready for DuSow. But he wasn’t there. He was at the side of the deck, examining the still-unconscious Lin Tan’s shattered nose.

  “You did this?” DuSow asked.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Impressive. Want to try to do that to mine?”

  “No. I just want to leave with Peter.”

  “I thought as much. When I noticed that you weren’t with the other riders, I got suspicious and came here. I’m missing the race because of you. That disappoints me.” He removed his right glove. “It appears Lin Tan has disappointed me, too.”

  DuSow placed his right hand on Lin Tan’s broken face, and Lin Tan began to shiver and shake, and then he went still.

  I raised the knife. “Back off. I’m warning you.”

  DuSow snickered and stepped over Lin Tan. In a blur, he kicked the knife out of my hand.

  My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe he moved so fast. It had to be the dragon bone.

  He removed his other glove and took a step toward me, and I saw him stumble. At first I thought it might be the slick deck, but then I noticed Peter’s arm. He’d reached through the doorway and had grabbed DuSow’s pant leg. DuSow leaned down to grab Peter’s bare wrist.

  “Peter! Let go!” I shouted. “Don’t let him touch you!”

  Peter didn’t let go. Instead, he jerked his massive arm sideways, and DuSow hit the deck.

  I tried to soccer-kick DuSow’s head, but he was too quick. He rolled away, breaking Peter’s hold. Peter army-crawled onto the deck and over to the railing. He began to pull himself up as DuSow stood.

  I heard an engine roar, and out of
the corner of my eye I saw a speedboat approaching at high speed. I thought it might be one of DuSow’s associates, but the driver, some random jerk, never slowed. He cut the steering wheel an instant before colliding with us, and I heard a chorus of laughter beneath the boat’s protective awning as someone called out, “Since you guys seem to like playing in the rain so much, here’s some more water!”

  A huge rooster tail washed over the deck, knocking me to my knees. The boat heaved from side to side, and I heard Peter shout, “Ryan!”

  SPLASH!

  He’d fallen overboard.

  DuSow rushed toward me with the fingers of his deadly right hand splayed. I stood and made a move to leap over the railing after Peter, but I slipped and fell. I landed on my back, and as DuSow neared, I grabbed his foot firmly with both of my hands. I rolled backward, and as DuSow began to fall, I wrapped both of my legs around his one leg. His foot was still locked in my hands, and as he crashed to the deck, I clamped my legs together and twisted his foot in a complete circle like Hú Dié had taught me.

  CRUNCH!

  DuSow howled in pain, and I let go, jumping to my feet. I scrambled clear of his deadly hands and hopped the railing, onto the dock.

  “Peter!” I shouted.

  “Down … here!” he replied, sputtering.

  I peered down and saw him treading water beneath the dock. He had a dangling dock line in one hand.

  “The current is strong, but I’m fine,” Peter said. “Do what you have to do!”

  I looked back to the boat to see DuSow climb over the railing, onto the dock. He limped toward me, his foot dragging. I turned to run and slammed straight into DaXing’s gigantic chest. He smothered me with a bear hug, lifting me clear off the ground. I kicked and writhed and beat my forehead against his sternum, but it was no use. Most of my face was smashed up against his heavy raincoat, making it difficult for me to breathe. I managed to twist my head to one side, and I saw DuSow hobble up to us.

  No one moved.

  “What happened to your face?” DuSow asked DaXing. DaXing didn’t reply.

  “What are you waiting for?” DuSow said. “Finish him, you big ape!”

  “You finish him,” DaXing said. “He’s only a kid.”

  DuSow shook his head and closed the gap between us. He raised his hands, and DaXing suddenly flung me to the dock. He gripped DuSow’s neck between his mighty hands, and I saw that DaXing was wearing heavy rubber gloves that went all the way up to his elbows.

  DuSow choked once, and his face instantly turned blue. He raised his hands and grabbed DaXing’s wrists, but his poisons had no effect through the rubber. DuSow began to kick DaXing and beat on the giant’s arms, but DaXing didn’t release his grip. In fact, it looked as if he began to squeeze tighter. Within a few moments, DuSow’s arms hung limp at his sides and his eyes began to bulge.

  I turned away. No amount of dragon bone was going to help him. I heard the thump as DaXing dropped DuSow to the dock, and I turned back.

  “Thank you,” I muttered.

  “He had it coming,” DaXing said. “Remember the man he killed the first time you saw me?”

  “The guy with the panther tattoos?”

  “Yes. DuSow said, ‘Take your failure of a friend with you and dispose of his body.’ Panther was more than my friend. He was my cousin. Let’s help yours.”

  I hurried to the dock’s edge, half expecting Peter to have hauled himself up, but he hadn’t. He was still in the water. He wasn’t holding the dock line, either. He’d tied it around his upper body.

  “Peter!” I called down. “What’s wrong?”

  He didn’t answer.

  DaXing joined me and stared down at Peter. “Help me with the rope,” he said.

  DaXing began to haul the rope up, groaning under the strain of Peter’s dead weight. I helped as much as I could, and we soon got Peter onto the dock. He was barely conscious.

  “You’ll understand if I leave now?” DaXing said.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Thanks again.”

  DaXing nodded and hurried off.

  I knelt beside Peter.

  “Thanks, Ryan,” he mumbled.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “My heart. The dragon bone. I—”

  His voice trailed off.

  A huge lump formed in my throat. “It’s the dragon bone, isn’t it?”

  He nodded.

  “And your heart hurts?”

  “I have palpitations. I overheard Lin Tan and DuSow discussing the heart failure concerns they had. Swimming in the current and trying to climb that rope, I … overexerted. I’m sorry.”

  I roared.

  “Noooo!”

  I jumped to my feet. There had to be something I could do! My dan tien quivered, and I remembered the dragon bone antidote. Would it work on the manufactured version?

  “Hang on,” I told Peter. “I have an idea.”

  I ran to my bike and grabbed my cell phone from the gear pouch beneath my seat. I shielded it from the rain as best I could and dialed Hok’s number. She answered on the first ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hok!” I said. “It’s Ryan. We have an emergency.”

  “What is it?” she asked. “I’m watching the race. I noticed that you had dropped out. What happened?”

  “I rescued Peter, only he overexerted himself. He’s having heart palpitations! DuSow’s manufactured dragon bone still doesn’t work. We need to try the antidote. How fast can you get here?”

  “I don’t know, Ryan. Traffic is gridlocked around the entire race area because of the streets they’ve closed off. It’s all over the news. I’d jog if I could, but I’m rather old for that.”

  “Wait!” I said. “My bike! I’ll ride to your place, then ride back. I should be able to do it in time.”

  “We must try,” Hok said. “You do not need to come all the way here. I can drive part of the way, or walk. Can you make it to Chinatown on your own?”

  “I can get to the Dragon Gate.”

  “Perfect. I’ll meet you there. Hurry, Ryan!”

  I hung up the phone and climbed onto my bike. “I’ll be back, Peter!” I screamed, and tore off into the night.

  I raced along the waterfront, then up the extremely steep hill. My light cut a path through the rain, and I pushed myself to reach the top faster than I’d hoped. My body began to cramp, and my dan tien danced, but I shoved the pain aside and focused on Peter.

  I heard a bullhorn siren wail for just a second, and then a chorus of cowbells rang out in the distance. The race was drawing to a close. It was the last thing on my mind.

  After cresting the hill, I caught my first glimpse of the street. Bumper to bumper didn’t even begin to describe the traffic. It was bumper on bumper. I veered onto the sidewalk and began to hammer between umbrella-toting pedestrians. Most of them saw me coming and leaped out of my way, but I had to shout at the more clueless ones.

  The pavement was pockmarked and not all of the curbs had pedestrian ramps, so I did a lot of bunny hopping. I wished I’d had my ’cross bike or even my mountain bike, but I did what I could with my road bike, using my knees and elbows as shock absorbers. Miraculously, the bike and I made it to the Dragon Gate in one piece.

  Hok was waiting for me.

  “I can’t believe you got here so quickly!” she said.

  “Had to,” I replied, sucking wind. “All my fault. Need to make it right.”

  “Not your fault,” she said as she strapped a small backpack onto my back. “Give Peter one mouthful of the antidote. Now go!”

  I spun my bike around and returned the way that I’d come, riding faster than before. I passed many of the same pedestrians for a second time, and they were even quicker to get out of my way.

  It was also a straight downhill run for me when I reached the obnoxious hill. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t looking forward to it. I hit sixty-five miles per hour before I finally tickled the wet brakes, and I was probably going thirty when I
took the turn at the bottom.

  I raced along the waterfront and made it back to Peter, who was now lying on the edge of the parking lot. I was overjoyed to find him still coherent.

  “How did you get over here?” I asked.

  “I crawled,” Peter muttered. “I couldn’t stand the sight of DuSow on the dock. Where did you go?”

  “Hok developed an antidote for the dragon bone,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “At least, it works with real dragon bone. No one has tried it with the manufactured version.”

  “Who is Hok?”

  “YeeYee.” I took off the backpack and removed a small container of liquid. I unscrewed the cap and lifted Peter’s head as I’d seen Hok do with Lin Tan. “Drink only one mouthful.”

  Peter wrinkled his nose. “What’s that smell?”

  “Dehydrated flying lizard. Just drink it.”

  Peter looked at me sideways, then swallowed a mouthful. I had to jerk the container away to prevent his convulsing body from knocking it out of my hands. I hung on to his head until the convulsing stopped and his upper body and arms curled into a tight ball.

  Peter’s body relaxed, and I heard him sigh.

  “Peter?” I asked.

  “Ryan … I think it worked.” He smiled.

  I smiled back.

  A van suddenly rushed into the parking lot and skidded to a stop. My mother jumped out.

  “Ryan! There you are! And Peter!”

  She ran to my side as Phoenix, Hú Dié, and Jake jumped out of the van, followed by Lucas, Philippe, and SaYui.

  What are they doing here? I wondered.

  My mother glanced at DuSow’s lifeless body, then back at me. “What on earth happened? I was looking everywhere for you!”

  “I saved Peter,” I said, standing. “Sorry I didn’t give you a heads-up.”

  “Peter!” Hú Dié shouted. She knelt down and gave him a huge hug, while Jake and Phoenix leaned down and bumped fists with him.

  Lucas looked at me, then nodded at DuSow, who was barely visible on the dock. “You?” he asked.

  I shook my head, raindrops flying off my nose. “No. DaXing.”

  Lucas nodded again and turned to Philippe and SaYui. “Now we can die in peace.”