“Oh, I was wondering if you were a kung fu master. Your chi is strong. I can feel it from where I’m standing.”
“Chi?” Nalia asked.
“It’s the name we use here for rohw. It’s how kung fu practitioners here refer to internal energy,” Sam answered her. “Chi, ki, mana, prana, they’re all names for the same thing, the ‘breath’ or internal energy.” Sam had researched the subject in the past, when he first became interested in meditation.
Turning back to the man, Sam answered him. “No, I am no master. I have studied chi and have tried to develop it, but I am no master.”
The man brought his hand to his face and rubbed his chin. “I see. Yet, you have strong chi. Both of you. It’s rare to find such power in two who are so young. To my eyes, you are glowing brightly among the throngs of people flooding the street.”
He considered for a moment, then continued, “Would you do me the honor of sitting and having tea with me? I would like to talk to you of your training. Perhaps we can trade information, if anything a lowly old man like myself can offer is worthwhile.”
Before Sam could say anything, Nalia bowed formally to the man. “We would be honored to share tea with you. Would it be amiss to ask your name?”
The man returned her bow, holding his hands one inside the other in a salute. “Of course not, my apologies for my rudeness. I am Li Jun Fan.”
After Sam and Nalia introduced themselves, they followed the man as he headed out of the tourist area and toward the part of Chinatown where the locals both lived and did their business.
The man was silent, moving with a grace and elegance that was almost mesmerizing. “Look at how he moves,” Nalia whispered to Sam. “He is a master at combat. Do you see him glow, the power of his rohw ability?”
Sam could. He was surprised at first when he came back from Gythe and found that his rohw abilities and sensitivity were severely limited. He thought something had happened to him, but Nalia commented on it also. They decided that because of all the technology and the destruction of much of the natural forests in the world, the vibrational energy on Telani was suppressed. They could still sense the rohw, use it, but it was weaker than on Gythe. Even with it weaker, he found that he could see a glow now, when he softened his gaze and tried. Maybe that’s why he felt a connection to the man. Maybe he wasn’t really familiar but Sam was drawn to him because of their connection to the universal energy. Still, there was something about his face…
“Yes, I can.” Sam smiled. The man reminded him of Rindu, Nalia’s father, a Zouyim monk and master with the internal energy. The Zouy was the one who had taught Sam to use his rohw. He was looking forward to conversing with this man.
They made their way to a narrow street with buildings that rose up sharply on either side. Entering a small doorway, they headed up a rickety staircase to a hallway so cramped that Sam could barely walk without brushing one of his shoulders against the wall. Li Jun Fan stopped at the third door on the left, took out a key, and unlocked the door.
“Please,” he said, gesturing for them to go in.
Sam’s eyes widened as he stepped through the door. The room was not what he expected based on the hallway and stairway. It was spacious, as large as his living room at home, with the entry to the kitchen tucked off in a corner and a hallway to another part of the apartment off to the right. It was decorated in a classic Eastern style with furniture consisting of graceful curves and lines, with heavy lacquering. The chests of drawers, display cases, and benches covered by soft-looking cushions were arranged to leave the central area clear.
A small table contained a large pot-like incense holder filled with sand. Sticks of incense, some half-burned, protruded from it like tiny sentinels. On the floor, an ornate woven rug completed the picture, its red and black designs swirling around each other in a pleasing pattern. The peaceful energy of the room flowed over Sam. He smiled. It reminded him of his meditation room.
Sam realized he hadn’t said anything for a long time and felt himself flush that he was scoping out the room. He looked over to see the man considering him carefully.
“I’m sorry,” Sam said, “the amount of space in here surprised me. Is this your meditation area? It feels…peaceful.”
“Yes, it is, amongst other things. It’s arranged in harmony with feng shui. There is good energy here.”
“I can feel it,” Sam said.
The man dipped his head in a half-bow. “I will heat the water for tea. Please, make yourself comfortable.” He left the room to go to the kitchen. Sam could see him through the doorway as he moved around taking things out of cabinets.
“I like him,” Nalia said. “He reminds me of my father. He has a quiet mastery that only comes from one who has achieved balance with the universal energy.”
Sam nodded his agreement, walking around the room and looking at the various pictures displayed on the walls and on frames spread on tables and shelves. Many of the pictures contained people who were recognizable to Sam, martial artists from forty or fifty years ago who made up the “Who’s Who” of the American martial arts community when it was just getting started. He had seen pictures of them in old magazines and books. There were plenty of pictures of movie stars from that era as well. Somehow, Sam wasn’t surprised. He wondered why there were no pictures of Master Li.
“Here we are,” the old man said, carrying a tray with a tea pot and three small cups. “Do you like my photographs?”
Sam took the tray and set it carefully on a small table. “Yes. I recognize many of the people in the photographs. They’re all very famous. You seem to have many of Bruce Lee. Did you know him well?”
Li Jun Fan waved the comment away. “I knew him well enough. They are all just men and women, just as we are. Back then, our opinions of ourselves were much too high. It is unbecoming a true martial artist. But let us talk of other things.”
He poured tea into the cups with such grace and elegance that it reminded Sam of a carefully choreographed dance. “For example, may I ask where the two of you studied? It is very rare to find ones so young with such strong chi. Did you study in China?”
Sam saw Nalia glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He nodded to her slightly. “No,” he said. “We actually trained with Nalia’s father. They live in a remote land far away.”
The old man handed the other two their cups of tea and then took his, nodding over it thoughtfully. “I see. Was it kung fu you studied? What style?”
Nalia took a sip of her tea, so Sam continued answering the man, “It wasn’t kung fu. It is sort of a family art, not really like any other art or style I’ve seen.”
The old man looked at Sam, considering. “Well, I don’t want to pry into secrets of a family martial art. Suffice it to say that I am glad to see two young people such as yourselves focusing on the internal arts, on the mental aspect of the warrior’s art, instead of just concentrating on the physical fighting styles. It is a rare thing nowadays.”
Trying to change the subject, Sam asked, “Master Li, what about you? It’s obvious you have been training for decades and have rubbed elbows with legends here in America. What style did you study?”
“Oh, no particular style, and many particular styles.” He laughed softly, almost like a sigh. “When I was young, I was obsessed with being the best, with making a name for myself. I wanted to be famous. I studied with a master, learned from other masters, and then created my own hybrid art. Then, one day, quite suddenly, I realized that my energies were misplaced. I went on a search for the true martial arts, true mastery. I traveled widely and learned from yogi in India and masters of internal kung fu in China, as well as the wise in many other nations around the world. I learned what it is to truly be a warrior, what it is to truly be a person. Now, I am happy living in the community, conversing with masters who have decades of training and life experience. I no longer want to be famous. I simply want to be in my place, in balance with all things. But I’m sure you know what I mean.” He
looked at Sam meaningfully.
Sam smiled at him. “I think I do.”
Finishing his tea and putting down his cup, the old man rose to his feet. “Would you do me the honor of doing some chi exercises with me, Sam? I have to admit I’m curious as to just how strong your chi is. Would you humor an old man?”
“I would be honored, Master Li, but I don’t know your forms.”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing so formal as that,” the old master said to him. “It is merely exercises of pushing and pulling and moving with the flow. I’m sure you will slip right into it.”
Sam agreed and soon they were standing a few feet apart, facing each other. “I will gently push toward you, palms to palms. Once you have recognized my energy, then you can push back toward me. Simple enough?”
“Simple enough.” Sam immediately began to control his breath, to become more aware of the energy surrounding him. He realized, with surprise, that the room he was in was fairly saturated with it. It was obvious the old master meditated and performed chi exercises in the room often.
The power coming from the master was different than what he felt when doing similar exercises with Rindu. It was just as implacable, just as solid, but instead of feeling like he was being slowly pushed back with a massive stone block, it felt like he was being buffeted by a soft feather mattress. It was obvious the small man in front of him was skilled beyond measure.
When he became comfortable and the flow seemed to allow it, he rechanneled the energy coming at him and directed it back at the master. He imagined the force coming out of his palms and projecting toward the other man. After several minutes, he felt Master Li relax and allow the energy to dissipate into the room. “That was marvelous, Sam,” he said as he bowed with his hands in the salute in front of him, one fist inside the other. “Thank you. It was…invigorating.”
Sam took a deep breath and relaxed, his body slumping. It felt like he had been wrestling, but he was tired in a good way. Peace radiating throughout his body. “Thank you, Master Li. I’m honored to be able to do those exercises with you.”
“The honor was mine. Sam, please do not blame an old man for trying to share a bit of wisdom he has learned from many years of study, practice, and mistakes, but may I make a suggestion? My masters believed that to impart the gift of knowledge to another was the most precious gift of all.”
Sam was confused for a moment. “Yes, please. I would appreciate any corrections or suggestions you could make.”
“Thank you,” the old man said. “I noticed that you were having a little trouble in melding your energy with mine, with truly coming into harmony with my energy and the energy of the room. It may be that it feels different than what you are used to, I am not sure. I would suggest that you meditate upon what it means to truly be one with others and with your surroundings. On that path lies true mastery. It is something I learmed late in my training, to my detriment. It is believed that to be strong, one must have strength within oneself, but I have found that strength comes through cooperating with others, no less so with internal energy than in everyday life.”
Sam wasn’t sure exactly what he meant, but he would consider it more later. “I will try to think on it, Master Li. Thank you for your guidance.”
Sam looked over to Nalia, who had been quietly watching them the whole time. “What about you,” he asked her. “Do you want to give it a try?”
“No, thank you,” she answered. Watching you two do it was sufficient.” The old master nodded to her, dipping his head in an almost-bow.
The three talked for a while longer, about energy and philosophy and the state of the world. Sam showed him the swords he had bought, which Master Li recognized as Master Ho’s weapons and told them a short story about them and their former owner. When Sam and Nalia left, it felt like they were leaving home.
“It was a pleasure to meet the two of you,” Li Jun Fan said. “If you ever happen to be in the neighborhood again, please stop by. You have lightened my old heart that there are yet people without gray hair who realize the importance of the internal arts. Please continue training. I can only imagine the things you will be capable of doing with another decade or two of practice. Focus on developing harmony and you will attain a new level of proficiency.”
The old master bowed formally to each of them, politely asked Nalia if he could give her a hug—she agreed and he did so—and then bade the two of them farewell. Sam was halfway to their car before the idea struck him that he had known who the old man was all along.
Sam smiled warmly as he recalled the experience. He took the wrapped bundle of the swords he had bought and replaced them in the wooden case he had made for them. He had plans for those swords and the idea made his smile grow larger.
Chapter 3
“I guess that’s it,” Sam said to Nalia and his mother. Everything was finally ready and all that was left was to leave.
Stoker, Sam’s gray cat, was weaving in and out of his legs, rubbing himself against Sam with every pass. When Sam looked down, the cat looked up and meowed at him. “Well, buddy, are you ready for an adventure?” The cat meowed again and resumed his rubbing.
“What do we need to do?” Nicole asked him. “You two have gone back and forth to the other world, but I haven’t. What’s my part?”
Sam hugged her. “You don’t have to do a thing, Mom. Just sit down and relax. You may want to close your eyes. I’m not sure how it’ll feel for you, but when we have traveled to and from Gythe in the past, it was a rough ride.”
Once his mother sat down, holding the cat, Sam and Nalia seated themselves on the floor of the meditation room, both in cross-legged positions and facing each other. “I think I know how to direct what gets transported now,” Sam said. “I’m going to try to make the house and the workshop, and everything in them, go with us.”
Sam began breathing in and out methodically. Air softly flowed in through his nose and out through his mouth. It was second nature to him now, and he slipped easily into the almost-trance, called the khulim on Gythe. After a few moments, he was relaxed and at peace, ready to continue.
In his mind, he pictured himself sitting cross-legged on the floor, a mere few feet from Nalia, facing her, as it was in reality. In his inner eye, he saw her look at him and nod. Together, they conjured up the image of just the two of them, sitting in complete blackness. Then, off to his left, a pin prick of light appeared and grew larger. It resolved itself into a tunnel of swirling colors, twisting and shifting around the opening.
Sam let Nalia take the lead, fixing firmly in his mind the vibration necessary to cross through the tunnel, the vibratory signature of Gythe. They slipped and slid, turning summersaults and twisting, moving their way through the tunnel. It was disconcerting, but it didn’t make him dizzy, just disoriented. When it all suddenly stopped, he felt as if he landed hard in his body. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw his meditation room and Nalia, just as they were when they started.
“That was…different,” he said to her. “In fact, it hasn’t ever really been the same twice. Each time, there are some things that are the same, but others that are different. I wonder why. It seemed easier this time, too.”
Nalia opened her eyes and looked into his. “Yes, easier. I do not know why it is different each time, though I have only done it twice now. Perhaps my father would know. Did it work? Are we in Gythe? The energy here feels different than when we started.”
“Let’s see. Mom, are you okay? How about Stoker?”
Nicole Sharp was still sitting on the chair, as she was when they started. She was breathing heavily, but didn’t seem any the worse for wear. “Wow, that was intense.” She dropped the squirming cat to the floor. “I don’t think he liked it much, but we’re both fine.”
Smiling, Sam got up and went toward the front of the house. His steps were quick as he hurried to see if they had returned to Nalia’s world. Throwing open the front door, he surveyed the landscape.
He was in the middle of a forest,
but then the land on which his house was built in Telani was forested. This wasn’t his normal forest, though, and it felt colder. The trees were different, unfamiliar, and more crowded. The final piece of evidence, though, was that there was no road, no driveway to his house. It was gone, completely. “Nalia,” he said, “I think you’re home.”
“I think we are home,” she said, hugging him from behind.
“I have given it a lot of thought,” Sam said as they sat on the back porch of his house looking out on the unfamiliar forest, “and it seems to me that we should be able to adjust the vibrations of the house to send it fully back to Telani. When I came to Gythe the first time, and the second, I think my house was partially in this world and partially in the other. If we’re going to stay here, I should send it all the way back to where it belongs.”
“Then why did you bring it here in the first place?” his mother asked.
Sam’s face reddened. “Well, you know how you always say I overanalyze stuff? I wasn’t sure if I could transport all of us as individuals. I figured it would be easiest if I simply brought the whole house with us because I’d done that before and knew that it worked. Besides, if anything happened and we had troubles when we got here, it seemed good to have a house full of food.”
Nicole looked at him blankly for a moment, then smiled. “I can accept that. It was good thinking, I guess. We should probably make sure things are how they’re supposed to be before we send it back, though.”
The other two agreed. “But first,” he turned to Nalia, “I was hoping you would show me where you grew up,” he looked at her expectantly, “that you would show me Marybador. We are close to it.”
Sam watched Nalia’s face as it went from surprise to tension, to sorrow, and finally to stern resolve. “Yes. I think it would be good for me to see what is left of my home. If I am to rebuild the Sapsyra Shin Elah, then I must see what I have to work with. I will take you there.”
Sam nodded and began rummaging through the closet where he kept his outdoor gear. In just a few minutes, he had taken out three sets of cross country skis and poles, backpacks, and assorted sets of gloves.
Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set Page 56