Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  Xun Hu smirked wryly at her new friend. “You got that right, and let’s never speak of it again. The sooner we leave this hellhole, the better.”

  Caojin, however, was gazing intently at Alex. “You were manipulating your own blood. Like… like an extension of Water Qi.”

  Alex shrugged. “More or less.”

  “My study into my opposing element has been minimal, a flaw I now have every intention of correcting, but I’ve never heard of any Water Master manipulating his own blood before. Only a few secondhand accounts of fallen wujen who dared to manipulate the blood of others.”

  “I’m not exactly surprised. It’s not Water Qi alone I’m using," Alex admitted. "Air and Metal also play a role. I’m not sure why, I’m guessing to emulate the hemoglobin, since iron and oxygen both play vital roles in the sustenance of our cells.” His gaze grew thoughtful. "Of course, that begs the question, why not Earth? Or is Metal alone being used to represent the mineral salts in our blood? Or Wood, in that it symbolizes life, in so many ways? And I think Dark Qi plays a far more important role than most people realize, even when not manipulating it in the ways that I do.”

  His musings simply earned him a furrowed brow. “Air Qi? Dark Qi? What exactly are you saying?”

  Alex shrugged. “I guess I’m saying that I don’t have all the answers. Only a hell of a lot of questions. But if it works, it works.”

  The Gold’s frown deepened, but Cheng Lei just laughed. “Come, cousin. Our savior, it seemed, has actually managed to free our companion from the headmaster’s unforgivable bindings. Even her scars have begun to fade. Let’s focus less on Alex’s curious turns of phrase, and more on securing our resources and exiting this place with all haste.”

  “Cui Chan, how do you feel?” Alex asked, touched by the heartfelt warmth of her gaze, and more than a bit surprised to see the scars covering her face already fading.

  The princess actually smiled. “Right now? I feel better than I have since I first arrived at this school. For all that I still feel a horrid weight of sin upon my soul, I am completely free of pain, and I no longer feel those sick monsters corroding my mind.”

  “Well, that’s a win in my book,” Alex said, gazing intently at his friends while his mind raced with the next steps of his own plan. “I think it’s about time we all got out of here, don’t you?”

  And with those words and a silent mental command, a rectangular four by six foot bar of golden light popped into existence before them. He couldn’t help smiling with a certain amount of satisfaction at the gasps of wonder and awe from almost everyone present as the golden brilliance faded, revealing what looked like a door frame leading right into the heart of his palace. Alex then nodded in greeting to his pleased-looking seneschal, now visible to everyone, who bowed from the other side of the gate, presently wearing a healer’s robe and gesturing to the accommodations awaiting Alex’s newest companions.

  Even Caojin’s eyes widened. “Is that truly a table I see absolutely covered in a king’s bounty of exotic dishes? I swear I can smell it all from here!”

  He turned, granting Alex a genuine smile, even going so far as to dip his head. “I knew you were a person of quality, Alex, despite the unusual nature of your, ahem, circumstances.”

  Alex laughed at that. “By all means, make yourself at home. So long as you keep to our agreement, treat others around you with respect, causing no deliberate harm save in honorable sparring matches… you are welcome to enjoy the accommodations. But please, be careful with the Fire magics, alright?”

  His gentle admonition evoked a surprisingly warm laugh, the prince’s eyes filled with genuine bonhomie and gratitude when the door to his salvation was before him. He even went so far as to squeeze Alex’s shoulder.

  “I won’t forget this, friend.” And with those words, Caojin stepped through the gate and was immediately greeted with a deferential bow by Seneschal Dong Xiao and given a brief tour of the accommodations, just as Alex had silently requested.

  Alex turned back to Cheng Lei and Cui Chan. “He’s not so bad when he’s not blustering with his own imminent fear of death.”

  But his friends were just staring at him.

  “Alex?”

  Alex smiled at his kung fu brother. “After all we’ve been through together, this is what surprises you?” He turned to the equally awestruck princess. “I’ve instructed my seneschal, who also happens to be a brilliant healer, by the way, to do everything in his power to treat your injuries. You will also be able to enjoy private quarters that none may enter without your permission.”

  He met her eyes with a sympathetic smile. “And I can promise you this. Once your head rests upon the down-stuffed pillows within your room, you will lose yourself in luxurious sleep and dreams blissful and sweet, and never have to worry about even a single nightmare marring your rest. In fact, you can dream up the most magnificent adventures imaginable, losing yourself for hours, or days, in worlds of your own making. All that I ask is that you not give up on life entirely. That you have the courage to get up each day and at least head to the library. There’s a tome or two that I think you might just find to be of great interest to you.”

  The broken princess’s eyes widened with those gentle words. “Alex?”

  Cheng Lei’s eyes twinkled. “Is the wonder you speak of what I think it is?”

  Alex grinned. “It is. If you’re thinking of what I think you’re thinking of.”

  Cui Chan furrowed her brow.

  “The tome Alex gifted your cousin isn’t the only work of wonder that our Alex has forged,” Cheng Lei quickly explained.

  The princess gaped in shock. “Wait! You mean…” her gaze turned to one of incredulous awe.

  The Blue Prince nodded. “He has at least one other. One he dared transcribe before my very eyes in the empty alcove behind the image of his master in the Hall of Emperors, a chamber that only those worthy of Jade may even step foot within. And the memory stone? Much to my surprise, it accepted Alex’s gift.”

  Cui Chan looked like she was seeing a ghost, her eyes flickering between Alex and the golden portal showing Caojin happily stuffing his face and waving for his friends to join him.

  “But that means…”

  The prince nodded. “Alex is either another lost heir of the imperial clan…”

  “Or he truly is the Fox’s Eternal Disciple.”

  Alex ignored the flush spreading across his cheeks. “My path isn’t one of raw power, but of mastery. Mastery of one’s own body, and being able to heal any injury, even infernal curses. Once Dong Xiao heals you of all that he can… the Path of the Eternal Fox can repair whatever injuries might linger within your body and soul. And, save for the dance of the Silver Swan, or imprinting my golden meridian pattern upon your soul directly, all of its secrets will be open to you.”

  He didn’t bother hiding a playful smile as her incredulous look only grew. “Even the secrets to eternal youth can be found within my manual. It offers a life free of all pain, and the opportunity to grow in whatever direction you wish, pretty much forever. All you need is the courage to let go of all past bitterness and hate and embrace the sweet future, just a single step away.”

  “But Alex…” So much was said with her haunted gaze.

  Alex shook his head. “Their sins were never your own. Remember that.” His eyes held hers unflinchingly. “Neither those inflicted upon your flesh, nor those inflicted upon your soul. And if any man or woman would ever judge you for what you have endured… in that instant, they have proven themselves lower than dirt, utterly unworthy of your friendship, heart, or time.”

  And before she could say another word, he bowed as low as his seneschal would ever let him, hiding his blazing cheeks with deference. “Your new life awaits you, Your Grace.”

  Cui Chan’s eyes filled with tears as she squeezed Alex tightly to her.

  “My hero,” she whispered, lowering her tear-filled gaze in sincerest gratitude as her face creased with the first true hopeful
smile he had seen since the moment he had rescued her from the grip of nightmare, a decade ago.

  When she dared to touch that portal, it did not waver or fade, but accepted her pressure immediately, and Alex was awed to see the terrible weight of blackest karma lifting instantly from her shoulders, as if the sins of a distant universe need trouble her no more than a quickly fading dream. She spun around the grand bedroom in wonder, laughing and trading quips with Caojin while savoring the deliciousness that was deep dish pizza and root beer, and never had Alex felt so fierce a mixture of poignant relief for his friend, and furious outrage towards the monsters that had broken her so utterly.

  A girl he had failed for far too long, before finally coming to her rescue.

  He didn’t even blink to feel Cheng Lei’s comforting grip squeeze his shoulder.

  “So, what’s next, kung fu brother?”

  Alex smiled at his friend. “Now, you step through and enjoy the best Chicago fare the windy city ever produced, while I take care of things here.”

  His friend raised a single confused eyebrow. “Alex…”

  Alex bowed low before his kung fu brother. “I have no doubt, absolutely no doubt at all, that a man of your caliber will always honor his family’s wishes, just as he will honor his oaths of friendship to his kung fu brother. And only a fool would ever force his beloved friend to choose between them.”

  “Alex…”

  Alex shook his head. “I’m about to walk along a very dark path. A path I sense you can empathize with perfectly. But my methods… best I say as little about that as possible.”

  His friend furrowed his brow.

  “That way, you need reveal nothing, save that you respected your friend’s discretion. No oath violated, no conflicts forced.”

  Cheng Lei’s gaze held too much respect to be pitying, but his concern was evident. “Alex, the headmaster, the true enemies within this school… they are Gold. You know that. Of course you know that.”

  Alex’s smile grew bitter. “I do.”

  “Then how…” he blinked, then chuckled softly. “You’re right, Alex. Such a question is beneath me to ask. I will leave you to study what tomes you desire and depart as you see fit. Just please… have a care. Alright?”

  Alex bowed his head gratefully. “If I’m really lucky, these priceless Gold tomes hold the secret to my ascension.”

  His friend frowned. “Alex. Even with whatever steps we’ve taken, it’s only a matter of time before…” Sighing with resignation, he finally shrugged and smiled. “I trust you will be well, my friend. I look forward to seeing you very, very soon.”

  With a farewell wave, he too stepped through the golden portal, soon enjoying one of Alex's favorite repasts while sharing words and laughter with his companions a world away. Words instantly cut off when, with a final nod to his seneschal, Alex muted all sound.

  And it was just him and Xun Hu remaining in the massive and abruptly too-quiet inner chamber of the secretmost sanctum within the entire college.

  A repository of knowledge Alex had absolutely no doubt that Headmaster Sudong would move heaven and earth to access once more, and in extremely short order.

  The young kitsune gazed up at Alex with questioning eyes.

  “What now, hero?”

  Alex flashed a wicked smile. “Now we get in some good reading and see if we can devise something that will give our favorite headmaster the welcome he so richly deserves.”

  Xun Hu laughed out loud. “How lovely that would be. Let’s do just that!”

  Alex then headed back up the stairway to the study chamber, his happily whistling companion just a step behind.

  54

  It felt just like opening presents as a little boy on Christmas, Alex thought, when he popped back to the top floor of the inner sanctum, fearlessly approaching the gold embossed felt-lined bookshelves containing such priceless treasures. The cultivation manuals shone a golden hue just as bright as the mastery they promised, all seeming to call out to him in the massive, luxuriously appointed study. His feet made not a whisper as they crossed the silky soft carpet to the farthest bookshelf, suddenly aware that the kitsune girl was trembling by his side.

  “Xun Hu?”

  “I can’t believe we actually did it.” She shook her head in awed disbelief.

  Alex smiled back reassuringly. “We did.”

  “I mean, we’re really here. After the nightmare ordeal this academy turned out to be, my family’s last hope of sanctuary revealed as the most bitter of lies... after being just seconds away from the most horrific of deaths, and then you came. And how close you came to being nothing more than a corpse.”

  “You just had to remind me.”

  “But now we’re here. Here, in the innermost sanctum of this school, secured by a vault door not even the headmaster could break through, with the most glorious prizes any cultivator could hope for now suddenly before us!” She swallowed, shaking her head. “I don’t think… I didn’t think our story was allowed to end this way. So much bitter, yet now we’re finally allowed the sweet?”

  Alex met her astonished eyes with a bleak smile. “As much as I hate to say it, you’re right. It’s almost beyond belief.”

  “But we did it. We robbed those bastards completely blind, claiming every single tome in the outer chamber. And somehow, somehow, you actually knew!” She laughed with just a touch of awe in her gaze. “Knew that we had to claim every single book right then and there, or somehow the story of our lives would arrange for their absolute destruction.”

  “Yeah, I was actually being half-sarcastic then. I was mostly furious at how tomes and resources I had every right to kept slipping from my grasp, time and time again.”

  Xun Hu nodded in complete agreement. “And somehow you were absolutely, utterly right. Because of course the moment we prepared to enter the inner sanctum...”

  “Caojin unleashed a panicked firestorm that would have absolutely destroyed every tome in the outer chamber. I know.”

  Xun Hu's ragged, exhausted laughter worried Alex, but he was reassured to see her sharp-eyed grin, her intense focus making it clear that she was still fully engaged in the moment; that shock, horror, and exhaustion hadn’t drained her entirely. Not yet, at least. “If there truly was a malicious force in play, we finally got the best of it! And now, here, before us…”

  “Are actual Gold tomes.”

  She barked a final bitter laugh, shaking her head. “And there’s no way in hell I’ll believe that death or peril isn’t awaiting us if we dare touch even a single tome.”

  Yet to Xun Hu’s horrified disbelief, Alex did just that. His ebony-covered fingertips lightly brushed against the brilliantly glowing Water Qi tome in the center of its own bookshelf, with numerous treatises regarding the tome and empty leather-bound journals and quills placed strategically around it.

  Congratulations! Eternal Library has imprinted 1 Gold Tier Single Element Water Tome.

  “There’s something I recall my enemies once gloating over, back when I was fleeing for my life,” Alex said to the shocked kitsune, who was clearly ready to bolt, as if death was looking her way at that very moment.

  “What General Shalu loved most wasn’t just ripping from my grip every prize I had ever earned fairly, but instilling such despair and paranoia that I would refuse even to collect prizes that were clearly within my rights. I’ve been conditioned to assume absolutely everything was a trap, that fate itself forbade me the sweet, and I should accept only the bitter. Breaking me that badly had seemed to please him more than anything else."

  Alex quickly made his way to an adjoining bookcase, briefly running his fingers against the treatises and leather-bound journals beside the true prize before claiming the priceless Golden Tome it showcased. "So ever since the day I heard that bloated bastard’s mocking laughter echoing through my skull, I vowed that I would never again let paranoia freeze me in my tracks. Especially when Artificer, Soul Sight, and Qi Perception can pretty much reveal any and ev
ery trap my enemies might devise.”

  His kitsune companion gaped at him for long moments before her lips cracked wide in a smile. “Yet I notice your hands are still covered with, well… something.”

  Alex smirked. “Yes. Dark Qi Projection. Because I’m not stupid. And Shalu really is vindictive enough to have prepared something so twisted that it catches even me off guard. But damn if I’m not still claiming copies of each and every one of these tomes.”

  Congratulations! Eternal Library has imprinted 1 Dual Element Gold Tier Wood/Fire Cultivation Manual.

  Pleased, he met the stunned emerald eyes that followed his every move. “And what my old enemy would have given to claim this prize.” He chuckled softly. “Oh well. Too bad for him.”

  His fierce sense of triumph grew as he found himself the proud owner of not just a handful, but over a dozen priceless Gold Elemental tomes with a very strong emphasis on Fire—or at least he now held their perfect copies in his Eternal Library.

  Perception check successful!

  And just when he thought his triumph absolute, a concealed panel and a deceptive servant's nook revealed an isolated wing within even this grandest of inner sanctums. And within the heart of its own private chamber was a masterwork alchemical lab that included alembics, crucibles, and countless beakers and tongs upon a grand marble table, complete with a metal hood made of electrum and enchanted to provide a steady stream of cool, fresh air from one side while sucking away any smoke or other impurities on the other. Alex could sense the flow of both Water and Fire Qi in its construction, and couldn't help whistling at this exotic magical version of a negative pressure workstation. It was truly a magnificent prize for any alchemist.

  With a lingering smile for the collection of neatly categorized alchemical ingredients radiating so much spiritual energy that he could feel it like a gentle balm against his skin, he made his way to the rear alcove and gleefully claimed several massive tomes absolutely filled with alchemical formulae. Only then did he claim a copy of the true prize within that hidden chamber: a triple element Fire/Earth/Metal cultivation manual that would have been the envy of any alchemist and, Alex was almost certain, held secrets that had once been studied by none other than Liu Jian himself. As to where his old mentor was now, and what had happened to him since he had ascended to Gold, Alex sadly had no idea.