Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  After exchanging nods with the pair of solemn-faced kitsune girls, he began embracing Eternal Fox, pleased when Zhu Bi’s eyes widened and she quickly joined in. “Alex?”

  He nodded at her unspoken request, more than satisfied to have another student walk his path. Zhu Bi explained all she could to the enraptured Xun Hu while Alex cultivated. The moment the injured kitsune learned that his sacred technique had the potential to heal any scar, any injury, even purge infernal taints and curses, she was suddenly glued to the pair of them, pleading with her eyes for Zhu Bi to teach her spiritual sister all she could.

  Alex allowed the girls’ hushed whispers to wash over him, Spiritual Perception allowing him to sense the faint connection of Spirit Qi between them, but he refused to let himself feel shock, surprise, or anything other than a deeper awareness of that moment as he felt the swirling storm of both Light and Dark Qi envelop him. Breathing deeply, he imagined his awareness spreading ever further outward, until he could sense the slowly shrinking rift leading to the Realm of the Dead, and the solemn Silver-ranked sentinels standing guard over it, their ears glittering with rubies, their eyes filled with mortal terror.

  As the night thickened, he imagined that he could sense even the brooding presence of a fiery hot weight, the Gold Headmaster himself, ageless face with eyes that had seen countless years gazing through a mirror made of polished silver and jade.

  The man’s eyes were orbs of cold obsidian, a striking contrast to the ruby pendant he wore clasped to his robes of silk and gold.

  And his countenance was one that Alex instantly recognized. They were the same hard-eyed features as those worn by the monster who had controlled Princess Cui Chan's collar in the bitter darkness and nightmare that Alex had tried so hard to forget.

  He said not a word, but somehow Alex could sense the brooding weight of his thoughts, the ruthless focus that had allowed him to ascend to heights undreamed by anyone not born into nobility, and Alex could only guess the fate of anyone that had gotten in the way of the man’s unquenchable resolve.

  A surge of dread rippled through Alex when the headmaster’s eyes abruptly widened, as if gazing back at the ghost peering at him through the mirror. But it rapidly faded to the calm breathing of waves lapping against the shore when Alex’s meditation was interrupted at last by the knocks presaging the end of all pretense, and he prepared to enter the crucible once more.

  46

  “Ah, just in time! We were afraid you would elect to skip yet another day’s lessons for your own pursuits. It is good you’ve decided to join us once more, Alex. Adept Cao is most eager for a rematch, and I am curious to see for myself whatever flashes of madness or insight allowed you to overcome what should have been your crucible for the remainder of your stay in the Aspirant’s Quarter.”

  The entire class of aspirants waited there, sitting on their knees and watching Alex as he stepped out of his private pagoda, with expressions ranging from pity to admiration to outright disdain, a couple of merciless smiles thrown in as well.

  Alex swallowed but didn’t hesitate to step forward, suddenly feeling the pressure of Bang Jiao’s fierce smile.

  Heart racing, he slowly lowered himself to his knees, kowtowing before the master of this quarter, for the moment ignoring the snarling Cao, as well as the other four instructors disdainfully regarding Alex.

  “This aspirant is confused, Master Bang Jiao, and is worried that he might have inadvertently caused offense by doing no more than what he was instructed to do.”

  “Really, Ruidian, and what is it that you were instructed to do?”

  Something in Bang Jiao’s eyes sent a shiver down Alex’s spine.

  Alex took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. “Master Zha Shi instructed me to recover from my duel with the honorable instructor Cao as best I could, and if I was unable to recover fully on my own, to report to the Blue Pagoda first thing in the morning.”

  “That was a full day ago, Alex!”

  Alex forced himself to raise his gaze until he met Bang Jiao’s glaring countenance. “I did my best to follow instructions and heal myself as well I could, as thoroughly as I could, so no lingering injuries or scars could hinder my physical form or the flow of Qi through my meridians in the seasons to come. Master Zha Shi placed no specific time frame upon my healing. My assumption was that if I was unable to recover on my own, with the resources I have at my disposal, I should make my way to the Blue Pagoda only during the morning, no doubt to prevent becoming a burden to the hardworking staff during busier times of the day.”

  For a long stretch of silence, Bang Jiao just stared at him with hard, measuring eyes, leaving him with a sinking sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, because he already knew that far more than skipping a few classes was at play here.

  “And I suppose you will tell me that you know absolutely nothing about what happened at the assignment center the other day? Or about the disappearance of Master Nong and twelve of your fellow students?”

  Heart racing, Alex forced himself to bow his head. “Master, I fear I can say no such thing,” he said to sudden gasps and the spiking surge of a killing aura. “For your very words make it clear that something did indeed happen. Something so catastrophic, tragic, or wondrous, that a full dozen cultivators are obviously here no longer.” He shrugged. “Or perhaps they are hiding?”

  Bang Jiao’s stony eyes pinned him where he kneeled. “You were by their side, were you not? Though you claim to have spent the day recovering from your injuries. Are you going to tell me you were the only one denied whatever… miracle embraced your peers?”

  Alex shrugged. “In truth, I just wasn’t interested in taking any assignments. Would you, if you were still on the mend? I find the library to be a soothing place, excellent for recovery, so long as one feels safe, and I already have a healthy amount of credits to my name. I was far more inclined to pay the library another visit while I had the chance.” He gave a mournful sigh. “But soon after I approached the library, a terrible roar echoed through the heavens, and I felt a dreadful weight upon my soul.

  “After spotting several elders fleeing the library and feeling that deadly aura in the air, I decided my best course of action would be to finish my day meditating upon all the lessons I had learned in the safety of my quarters.”

  An endless, breathless pause seemed to fill the clearing, as if Alex’s every word was being measured for falsehood.

  Until at last a soft chuckle washed over the silent class. “Very well, aspirant. I will accept your… interpretation of events.”

  “But, Master…” A clenched fist instantly silenced a protesting Cao.

  “Indeed, I am quite eager to see if your independent study has borne you any fruit.” Bang Jiao shot a warning glare at a suddenly ashen-faced Cao. “This so-called Adept has made it clear that you besting him before was but an anomaly, and that in a true test of skills, where there are no artificial strictures, when it is a fight that embraces ruthless savagery without limits, the outcome would be vastly different than that farce of a contest we witnessed before.”

  Cao recovered quickly, agreeing with a fierce smile. “Exactly, Master.”

  Bang Jiao gave a satisfied nod. “I quite agree. I too wish to see what you are capable of when pressed to your limits, young aspirant. And considering that the stakes for Cao are absolute, I have no doubt you will both be fighting with everything you have!”

  Alex felt a chill race down his spine. “Forgive me, Master Bang Jiao, I’m not quite sure I…”

  Bang Jiao gave a cold smile. “You’re no fool, Ruidian. I think you do understand.”

  And that was when he saw it.

  Nothing so blatant as flashing jewels upon his former mentor’s spartan frame.

  Rather a single belt securing his silken changshan, far longer than Alex’s own.

  A sash the color of blood and betrayal.

  A sash now worn by every instructor among them, including all five of the elemental Adepts w
ho, at one time, had had nothing but resolute smiles and words of encouragement for the students who actually excelled at their lessons, even Alex.

  Of course, none of them were smiling now.

  “It’s simple, Ruidian scum,” sneered Cao. “We fight with everything we have, and you prepare to spend the next fifty years fighting for your future masters.”

  Bang Jiao broke into a brilliant smile. “And should you actually manage to best Cao, it is he—one of the most promising Fire-aspected body cultivators we have who has yet to break through to Silver—who will join our patron’s army, and you, my dear Ruidian anomaly, will have earned the right to follow your own path, graduating from the Aspirant’s Quarter in record time!”

  Alex stifled the shocked disbelief he allowed to overwhelm him for only a heartbeat as best he could with a bow, standing upright once more.

  His worse fears were realized.

  Prince Dongfang Hong had infiltrated Royal Phoenix Academy so utterly that there was now no need for any sort of pretext at all. Even the few instructors in this quarter that Alex had dared to grow fond of now wore the crimson sash, and somehow he was dead certain that he wasn’t the only aspirant who would soon be facing the most extreme competitions that would result in countless students being forced by their own sigils not to join the Imperial Legions, but the Red Prince’s own.

  Bound by oaths to fight on behalf of a monster.

  The destruction of the assignment hall had done nothing to stop the tide.

  Alex slowly turned around, making no sudden movements, as if getting a sense of his situation.

  He found himself gazing into the faces of no less than a dozen Spirit Wolves, led by Duo Ku himself, who began cracking his massive knuckles and smiling.

  “Soon, we’ll own you, Ruidian. Body and soul.”

  Perception check made!

  Alex froze then, as it all clicked, finally making sense.

  He now understood why Duo Ku had looked strangely familiar.

  He looked like a younger, more brutal version of Dongfang Hong. Perhaps a nephew. Perhaps a younger brother. Perhaps something else.

  The particulars didn’t matter.

  What mattered was that Alex could finally see his enemies’ gambit, realizing what his own play had to be.

  Knowing just how perilous his situation truly was, if anyone thought for a second that he was anything more than the naïve, strangely potent fool he would now pretend to be.

  He didn’t hesitate to pull free his talisman, glittering in all its pearlescent glory in the morning sunlight. His fist clenched the near-translucent jade plaque so hard, he could feel what the words imprinted upon its back said, in a language never written in this world, save by himself.

  No challenge may be refused.

  Thrice won is sacred.

  Permitting himself a madcap grin, he knew exactly what his next move had to be.

  He chuckled aloud for the benefit of his cold-eyed instructor. “Boy, you really believe in forging your students in fire. Let everyone see what it means to fight, as if the stakes are absolute. Because on the killing fields of war, they truly are! My old master would approve.”

  His gaze hardened. “I would love to fight Cao and put him in his place, but I won’t play the fool. Promise me that if I best him, I will have earned the right to leave the field in peace without any of our other instructors… or anyone else… immediately challenging me.”

  He turned to glare meaningfully at Duo Ku, who, strangely enough, met the sharp look with an approving grin.

  “Not nearly half so stupid as one would think. Excellent!” declared the powerful Silver with a toothy smile. “Very well. Should you actually emerge victorious, you will have one hour’s grace to lick your wounds and find yourself a pagoda or shelter to claim before I, Duo Ku, personally come for you.”

  Alex’s smirk didn’t reach his eyes. “I notice you didn’t say anything about your lackeys.”

  Duo Ku laughed. “No. I didn’t, did I, Ruidian?”

  Alex turned to meet the eyes of an utterly enigmatic Bang Jiao. “Is that acceptable to you, Master Bang Jiao? Should I best Cao and thus ‘graduate’, I’ll have an hour to secure myself whatever quarters I can in peace?”

  Ruthless eyes glittered into Alex’s own before the man gave a soft chuckle. “How could it be otherwise, lad? You’ll have proven yourself against considerable odds, and more than made up for your constant sleights of propriety, decency, and proper respect. Virtue in battle forgives so very many sins, after all.”

  He gave an approving nod, as if he were not deliberately setting Alex up for a bitter fall. “A talented young initiate such as yourself is more than ready to leave the Aspirant’s Quarter, should he prove himself in the crucible before him. And I suspect you’re wise enough to begin to make peace with the hidden authority of this school, just as we all must learn to make peace with the true powers behind all the polite masks society wears. Of course, it would have been wisest had you actually taken an assignment while you had the chance, for there is more than one type of security for the truly daring or resourceful, but perhaps this is for the best. In your case, at least.”

  Bang Jiao crossed his arms as a gentle breeze rustled his light grey robe and the crimson sash that secured it, looking quite pleased with himself. “Truly, I am glad to count you among our number this year, Ruidian. You have already supplied my students with any number of valuable lessons, for those with the wisdom and wit to understand them.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Alex said, bowing once more, a quick furtive glance catching Zhu Bi’s horrified gaze, half hidden in shadow.

  “Have everyone who doesn’t want to end up a slave of the Red Prince meet up within my pagoda as fast as they can!”

  “Alex?! This is madness!”

  “Forge a path of crooked shadow while the masters are looking forward to my destruction, Zhu Bi. It’s the only way.”

  “Alex, what can you possibly do that won’t make things worse for everyone?”

  “Trust me.”

  And before he could say or think anything else toward the girl he now felt as fiercely protective of as any cousin lost to him a lifetime ago, his focus immediately snapped to the snarling Cao, fumbling for his talisman with one hand, his other already covered in flame.

  Alex’s heart lurched.

  For his plan to work, he had to act now.

  “I chal…”

  Bullrush! Quickness check made!

  And before Cao could say another word, it was Alex before him in an eyeblink, his formerly translucent talisman now under the triple-sigiled Bronze of his former instructor, the deep bronze talisman seeming to fade to ephemeral mist under the magnitude of the sigil blazing underneath the Adept’s tile, even as the obsidian shimmer sucked all light away.

  “I challenge you, Cao, to a fight to death or submission, the stakes being absolutely everything either of us have ever laid claim to!”

  No challenge may be refused. Thrice won is sacred.

  The words flashed through his mind as Cao blanched with horror. The Fire instructor instinctively lurched back as Alex darted away and shot a cold smile at him as the other Adepts roared their fury. Because of course, at the very moment his talisman had touched his foe’s, his words had raced as fast as thought, in the blink of an eye, understood by everyone as if they had stood solemnly still for the duration.

  The declaration had somehow transcended mortal limits, allowing cultivators to tie each other to oaths before the other party could blink, let alone raise a fist or finger in protest.

  “Death matches are forbidden! His talisman should have turned ice cold and dropped from his fingers!” roared a glaring Duo Ku.

  Bang Jiao smiled enigmatically. “And yet his talisman shifted to an impenetrable darkness the equal of any eclipse blocking out the sun, while poor Cao’s Bronze talisman faded to nothing under the pressure. Crushed by a tile normally so weak, our poor Ruidian has never been able to refuse a single
fight. How very… interesting.”

  Whatever else might have been said was lost to Alex, who was suddenly fighting for his life against a furious opponent. Cao’s left arm had become a swirling, fiery maelstrom far beyond the basic Fire Ward their class had been taught, his right hand holding a crackling whip of flame that Alex knew all too well.

  “Prepare to scream as I mark your flesh, future slave of the Red Prince!”

  A deadly pall came over all the instructors and the Spirit Wolves as well. Damn Fool! Alex thought. There were many variables he could account for, but falling prey to his enemy’s sheer idiocy that might force him to face off against multiple Silvers was not one of them.

  So he did the only thing he could, hoping against hope that Zhu Bi would use the lapse to entice a few more aspirants to follow her lead.

  Bullrush! You have successfully deflected Fire Whip! Zero Damage taken!

  Sweep kick sends your opponent falling to the ground!

  Your opponent’s ankle saves versus rupture!

  Your opponent has rolled back to his feet!

  “Thought you could get me twice with the same tricks, Ruidian?” Cao bellowed, lashing out with his whip of deadly, caustic flame that came damned close to tearing Alex’s left eye free of his head in the heartbeat that Alex was vulnerable… missing only by inches, sliding off a pressure wave of Light Qi which forced the caustic whip of flame to miss Alex entirely.

  Which was only a fraction as exhausting as actually trying to force aside a mountain’s worth of Earth Qi from a fist just inches away from his face, as he had learned to do with the help of a former enemy who had, quite unexpectedly, become a sparring partner and almost a friend.

  “Cheating bastard!” Alex cursed, hoping to distract his enemy from any dangerous trains of thought, earning a mocking smile from his opponent and dark laughter.

  “What, you thought I’d limit myself to the paltry techniques my brothers and I bothered to educate mere neophytes? Fool! For that alone, I shall wring bitter tears from your broken Ruidian corpse!”

  Face twisting into a vicious smile, the fiery cultivator slowly raised his right hand as if it were a claw, focusing all his fiery wrath upon his opponent.