Zhànshì: A Dark Retelling

by Anna Edwards

  With a loud battle cry of, ‘Yi Shu’, I almost burst into tears as soldiers from my people start to flood into the room. Their swords are drawn, and they’re fighting and killing anyone who comes near them. We’ve never been blood thirsty people before, but this is about ending the devastating war we’re in. It’s what needs to happen to achieve our goal. A tuft of blond hair catches my eye as Jaxon flies through the air with his batons spinning around like a shield.

  “Fuck,” Wang exclaims. “This is all wrong. The Yi Shu don’t fight like this.”

  “Maybe you underestimated us,” I retort, and he slaps me hard across the face again.

  “This is your fault. They’ve come for you, haven’t they?”

  “No, they’ve come to finish this. They’ve come for you.”

  I don’t have a chance to say anymore, because several of Wang’s guards start to pull us both from the room, intending to take us to safety. I need to stop them. Wang has both my hands tightly gripped in his, so I can’t reach the knife I’ve hidden. Using Wang as a pole, I kick out at the two guards nearest me and send them flying onto the floor.

  “What the fuck?” Wang exclaims as two more of his guards try to stop me from kicking out again.

  I’m too quick for them, though, and they are sent flying through the air to meet their friends. Wang lets go of me in shock, and I bear down on him, pulling the knife out of my underwear as I go. Another guard attacks me from the left, but he has no chance now that I have a weapon. I send it flying into his eye, and he collapses to the floor. Walking over to him, I press my foot firmly against his throat until he’s no longer breathing.

  Wang watches me the entire time as I pull the knife out of his guard’s eye and wipe it on the red dress. We’re alone now in the corner of the room. The Yi Shu has every other man occupied in a fight. It’s just me and Wang.

  “Did you really think you could break me? I’m Lia Zhànshì, warrior for the Yi Shu.”

  “You’re a foolish woman who thinks she’s better than she actually is. You’re a whore, plain and simple. I made you one. I fucked you into submission, and even if I die here today, it’s all you’ll ever be.”

  “No it won’t. You never made me submit to you, because I’ve been carrying the love of another inside me the entire time.” I catch sight of Jaxon nearby. He’s engaged in a fierce battle with the former Yi Shu member—the Russian man’s already dead at their feet.

  Wang notices where my attention is focused and snorts a laugh,

  “You’re talking about the blond demon. That makes you even more of a traitor, Lia. You can’t even be with your own kind.”

  “Jaxon is my own kind…more so than you’ll ever be. You’re the traitor here. You’ll never be king, because you don’t have compassion or a heart. Your men are dying here, and you’re more concerned with escaping. I see it in the way your eyes dart about, searching for somewhere you can go away from here. Run like a coward, Wang. Run back to whatever rock you slid out from.”

  “Never.” Wang draws the sword at his waist and heads for me.

  I jump high in the air, out of the way, using him as an object to step over. Landing on the ground behind him, I spin around and kick out at him. I only have a small knife as my weapon. Against a skilled fighter with a sword, this is probably suicide, but I’m not going to stop. I won’t let Wang escape. I’ll engage him in battle until my last breath. All around us, his soldiers are falling.

  Wang comes for me again, and when he brings his sword up, I have to fall backward to avoid being sliced through. I throw my small knife at him, and it hits his sword arm. He drops the weapon momentarily and pulls the knife out of his arm before swiftly righting himself and taking up his sword once again.

  “Whore,” he shouts at me. “I’ll not be defeated by a woman. You are nothing. You’ll not defeat this vision I have. I’ve the power of the deities on my side.”

  “You have nothing,” I respond.

  Wang lunges for me and manages to catch my arm with his blade. I feel the skin rip and blood start to flow from it.

  “Scream,” Wang shouts, but I give him nothing except a deathly stare.

  Behind me, I hear the sound of Jaxon ending the life of the traitorous Yi Shu member. Wang’s eyes go wide when I hold my sword arm out to the side. I knew my family sword was here the second Jaxon entered the room with it. I can feel it like it’s a part of my body. A few seconds later, it appears in my hand, and Jaxon is behind me, his warmth enveloping me in honor and strength.

  “Finish this,” he orders, and I race for Wang, my sword held straight out in front of me.

  He holds his sword up, but one of Jaxon’s batons flies through the air and knocks the weapon from Wang’s hand as my sword embeds itself in his chest. It’s then the pain comes…gasping, I let go of my sword and stumble backward. Wang smirks, blood pouring from his mouth.

  “Not as good as you thought you were, are you?” he sneers and falls to the floor, dead.

  I look down. The small knife I used is now embedded in my stomach. I wrap my hands around it and turn to face Jaxon. His eyes go wide, and he runs toward me as I collapse onto the floor.

  “Lia, no, stay calm. I’ll get you out of here and treated.”

  I move my hands from the knife and reach up to Jaxon, the edges of my vision starting to fade.

  “I love you.” I gulp through the pain.

  “No, no, no,” Jaxon screams for help.

  “We did it. We won. I finally found out who I am. I’m Lia, just Lia.”

  The world falls black.

  Lia dies twice on the way to our private hospital. Thankfully, both times, they manage to revive her. When we arrive, she’s rushed into surgery, and I sit in the waiting room, numb and not able to make sense of what is going on around me. I know there are soldiers being brought in and other operations being carried out, but all I want to know is what’s happening to Lia.

  Is destiny really going to be so cruel to us? She’s killed Wang. We’ve won the war, and the Jīn Long has been destroyed. It’s over. A chance for a peaceful life stands within our grasp, and here she is, fighting for her life in a hospital bed.

  Eventually, a doctor appears, and I am ushered into a room where Lia is hooked up to an array of machines, all of them beeping and working to keep her alive while her body heals from the wound Wang inflicted on her. That’s what the doctor has told me anyway. She’s alive, but the next twenty-four hours are critical. I haven’t left her bed since she returned from her surgery. Her mother, father, and sister sit opposite me. Her mother and sister weeping quietly, her father in silent prayer.

  “Is the candle still lit?” I ask out of nowhere, and they all look at me confused. “The one in your house. The one for Lia.”

  Her mother nods. “Yes, we’ve had people check on it and replace it when needed, we’ll keep it alight.” Her mother gulps. “Until all hope is lost.”

  “Thank you.” I place my hands together in the symbol of prayer and bow my head.

  We all fall silent again. Waiting and watching for any sign of Lia coming back to us. I curse fate in my head, and it curses me back with fluctuations in Lia’s heartbeat, which worries the doctors.

  Days pass. I don’t leave the room unless for a toilet break. A blond beard grows on my chin. One day, when I’m alone with Lia, I break down. I cry and plead for her to come back to me, to not leave me alone, but she doesn’t respond. I now understand every emotion that went through my father’s mind the day he left me. The pain, the anguish, the suffering. I forgive him and my mother for what they did. I say a silent prayer for their souls. And still Lia doesn’t wake.

  I’ve all but given up hope, and when the machines go crazy, I know this time they signal her death, but I jump back surprised when she opens her eyes and looks at me.

  “Lia?” I question as doctors and nurses run into the room and usher me out so they can carry out various tests.

  I stand glued to the window, watching their every movement.
Lia’s parents walk down the corridor, and they rush toward the window when they see the worried look on my face. For what seems like an eternity, we all stand in silence as the doctors do whatever it is they need to do. Eventually, they emerge from the room with happy expressions on their faces.

  “Our daughter?” Lia’s father asks.

  “Awake and doing well. She’s tired and will need time to heal, but she’s looking good.”

  The stress of the last few days floods from my body, and I struggle to breathe. Great big gulps of air get caught at the back of my throat until I look through the window again and see Lia watching me. She smiles, my angel, my warrior. I was stupid to think a stab wound would stop her from fighting. I rush through the door and head to her bed. Her parents follow, and we all reunite in torrents of tears.

  A knock comes to the door, and when we turn around, Gaozu is standing there, watching us. I get to my feet and bow. Lia’s parents do the same.

  “Please sit.” Gaozu motions and Lia’s parents resume their place at their daughter’s bedside.

  I move out of the way so my leader can take my seat. He lowers his head in thanks to me.

  “I’m sorry I’m not bowing, sir,” Lia apologizes.

  “I think I’ll let you off this once,” Gaozu chuckles. “How are you, Lia?”

  “Healing, slowly, but I’ll get there.”

  Gaozu bows his head,

  “You are more worthy of my title than I am, at the moment, Lia. I can never give you enough thanks for everything you’ve done. The war is over. The members of the Jīn Long who didn’t want to join us have fled, but many more have welcomed us with open arms. We’ve been giving aid to them for the last few days. A large number of their people needed our help. Wang has left a lot of scars. People will need time to heal, but we’ll give them all the support we can, and that is all thanks to you. Your courage is beyond compare. You will forever be a hero within our people.”

  “Thank you, sir. I just saw a way of ending things and took it.”

  “At great cost to yourself and to Jaxon’s state of mind…not to mention his personal hygiene. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with so much hair on his face, and I could smell him from the end of the corridor.”

  I lift my arm up and sniff. “Sorry,” I apologize. I do smell like rotten fish left out in the sun for a few days. “Now I know Lia’s going to be all right, I’ll be able to get a shower. I wasn’t going to leave her until I knew she was okay.”

  “I don’t blame you.” Gaozu smiles happily my way. “She’s your equal, your love, and the person whose soul was destined to be entwined with yours forever.”

  “Destiny has a lot to answer for,” I complain and roll my eyes.

  “Why?” Lia questions.

  “All the tales of a blond fighter bringing victory to the Yi Shu were a pile of crap. I’m sorry, but I think in future, our ancient books need to be read and re-read a good few times to make sure we have the facts straight before we start worshiping anything or anyone our ancestors believed in.” I shake my head and perch on the end of Lia’s bed, feeling a little lightheaded from my rant combined with a lack of food over the last few days.

  “I have read the prophecies a few times…many times in fact,” Gaozu informs us.

  “So have I,” Lia’s father adds, and the two men look between each other.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” I know Lia and I are not party to something here.

  “The prophecy didn’t just talk of a blond soldier. It spoke of a Chinese woman as well, and how their love would bring us peace.”

  “What?” Lia shifts on the bed.

  Trying to sit up, she grunts a little from the pain in her wound and settles back down.

  “A Chinese woman?” Lia’s mother questions and looks toward her husband.

  “We’ve been played.” I drop my head into my hands.

  “When you were given to me with the tuft of blond hair, Jaxon, I knew you’d be one part of the prophecy. Your strength, determination, and courage were second to none even though you’d lost both your parents so young,” Gaozu explains. “I saw the equal measures of fear and respect you commanded in others as you grew up. It was obvious you were the blond soldier of the prophecy, but the identity of the Chinese woman was unclear.”

  “Until one day when I returned home from fighting.” Lia’s father takes up the story. “I’d been injured and was recuperating. Lia was only young at the time. And her mother is going to kill me for saying this, but I found her down in my basement. She was staring up at my sword, repeating the words written inscribed on it even though she’d barely learned to speak, and she definitely couldn’t read. Her words were clear to me, though, as was the phrase ‘I’ll bring honor to my family’. She spun around and pretended to sword fight with a stick she had in her hand. She was a natural, and I knew then Lia was the other half of the prophecy. I started training her that day.”

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that,” Lia’s mother adds after her father stops speaking. Lin wraps his arms around his wife,

  “I’m sorry. But I couldn’t deny who she was, no matter how much I wanted to.”

  I look between Lin and Gaozu. “You knew who Lia was the first day she started training. You knew who and what she was before she even told me?”

  Gaozu nods. “Yes, I’d often seen her fight in practice before. I knew her movements. I knew her eyes. It’s why she was placed in your team. I knew you’d see the potential in her. I also hoped you’d fall in love. I think we hit the jackpot on that one.”

  “We really have been played all along,” Lia huffs. “So when I came to you with my plan you knew who I was anyway.”

  “Yes, which made agreeing to what you requested of me one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I’ve known you all your life, Lia, from a distance, and to put you into harm’s way didn’t sit right with me. I had to trust you, though, and the prophecy. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  Lia falls silent. I motion for Gaozu to move so I can get closer to the woman I love, and he does without hesitation. I wrap my fingers around Lia’s hand, and lifting it up, I place it over my heart.

  “The only memories we need now are the ones we create between us. The love we share, our bodies joined together.” I try not to look at Lia’s father when I say that. “What the world had planned for us has come to fruition. This is our time now, and I won’t leave your side again. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Lia raises her hand entwined with mine to her lips, and she kisses my palm. She then turns her attention back to Gaozu who’s now standing at the end of the bed.

  “I forgive you. I forgive all of you. I found the true me on this journey, and that’s the best thing that could have happened. I no longer need to hide who I really am.”

  “Which leads me on to another reason I’m here,” Gaozu adds, and I cock my head toward him. “You and Jaxon are free. I give you leave to go wherever you want in the world. The debts of your families are paid. In fact, all debts have been paid thanks to our victory over the Jīn Long. Your lives are your own to live as you want.”

  I look down at Lia. A thrill of excitement at the opportunity to travel surges through me, but it’s mixed with sadness. I don’t want to leave the family I have.

  “I’ll let Lia answer for us.” I search her eyes and know instantly she’s feeling the same as I am. Whatever connection we have between us is strong.

  “Thank you.” Lia kisses my palm again before allowing me to place our hands on the bed. “We’ll not be going anywhere, though. We have one more task we want to complete. A loose end to tie up, but after that, our life will be here. It always has been and always will be. You may not need soldiers anymore, but we have plenty of skills we can teach people to help them protect themselves. I think that will be our future.”

  “So you’re refusing my offer of freedom from the Yi Shu?” Gaozu looks astonished.

  “Yes, we’ve always supported you and will al
ways do so until the day we die. Just know I won’t be a silent little woman who cooks and cleans all day. I’ll be beside Jaxon the entire time. I’m his partner in everything. No questions asked.”

  “I wouldn’t even dare. I’ll still need security in spite of the reduced threat. I think I know the perfect couple to be in charge of that. What do you say?”

  Lia and I both look at each other.

  “Hell yes. The female Chinese warrior and the blond demon forever.”

  San Francisco in the winter can get cold, but Sweden at that time of year is a whole different league. I swear my feet are frozen and will fall off any minute now. It doesn’t seem to faze Jaxon, though. Maybe he has mystical abilities to deal with the cold, flowing through his blood. I no longer question anything since hearing about my father and Gaozu’s belief in and manipulation of the prophecy to free the Yi Shu.

  Our world is bliss now, filled with fun and laughter, integration and respect—exactly how it’s meant to be. A few small factions did get together with old Jīn Long fighters, but we stamped them out before they had a chance to cause any real trouble. I still enjoy fighting. It gives me a thrill that has no comparison except for the time I spend in bed with Jaxon at night. We can’t get enough of each other.

  After I left the hospital, my parents insisted we get married, and we didn’t protest—it felt like the natural thing to do. My mother is now on about grandchildren, but I’ve told her she needs to wait for them. I’m having too much fun being myself.

  “So you touched something that’s mine, even if you didn’t rape her?” Jaxon smacks his fist into the face of the man sitting in the chair in front of us in a patch of crisp white snow.

  The blond haired man is whimpering like a baby, and I want to chuckle. When I was being raped, this man, who looked so much like Jaxon, unsettled me. There’s nothing left of that man now, though.

  “Actually, you touched something that’s mine, and you and your father ordered the murder of my parents—my mother was your sister,” Jaxon accuses, and shaking his head, he sends another punch flying into his uncle’s face.