Chosen by Desire (48 page)

Max: Then why are you asking me?

Me: I was curious.

Max: (grumbling) Women and their damn curiosity.

Me: So I guess you don’t want to talk about your secret legacy.

Max: No.

Me: How about your affinity for metal? I hear you do metalwork.

Max: No.

Me: Can I ask you about your relationship with Rhys Llewellyn?

Max:
No.

Me: You’re not making this easy.

Max: Last question.

Me: (sigh) Okay. Boxers or briefs?

Max: (implacable silence)

Me: Right. Thanks again. This has been, um, real.

Centuries ago, a group of monks in a secluded monastery in Southeast China, battered by neighboring gangs, developed an art of war. As there were five elements in Chinese cosmology, there were five correlating fighting principles in the art, documented in five scrolls.

Over time, the monks became so adept at harnessing the elements that they developed other abilities. Each element had its own set of powers, and each secret was recorded in the scrolls for future generations to learn.

Tales of the extraordinary leaked through the provinces, until they reached the ears of one particularly ruthless overlord.

Amazed, he journeyed to the monastery to study with the monks.

One monk, Wei Lin, saw within the overlord’s heart and recognized he coveted the sacred scrolls, for the scrolls unlocked the mysteries of nature and man. One scroll for each element. Earth, Fire, Wood, Metal, Water.

To protect the world from the overlord’s greed, Wei Lin stole the scrolls from the monastery and left under the cover of night.

For decades he searched before he found five families worthy enough to guard them-one family for each scroll. Men so virtuous they could resist the temptation to harness the powers for their own gain.

Wei Lin entrusted these men with the scrolls. He marked them and then decreed that the mark would be passed down, generation to generation, to the next one worthy of being Guardian.