Serpentine (21 page)

It was the first full night of sleep Skybright had had in a long time, and she woke thick-headed. Zhen Ni had rolled away from her in the middle of the night and slept on her back, an arm flung out to the side. Her face was peaceful in the gray morning light, and she appeared young again, vulnerable. For when Zhen Ni was awake, she was alert and shrewd, her countenance tinged by a weariness and heartache in these past weeks that she was unable to hide.

Skybright began packing their few belongings and was ready to go when her mistress finally woke. “I can take us to the creek to wash up,” Skybright said. She then helped Zhen Ni to brush and plait her hair, pinning it close to her head the way Skybright wore it, in the style of a servant, before making the trek through the forest to the creek. The forest floor was a sea of ferns that reached as tall as their calves, and the girls picked their way carefully through it.

Skybright and Zhen Ni washed their faces, hands and feet at the creek, and rubbed coarse salt against their teeth. Then they studied Zhen Ni’s map, which was better rendered than Skybright’s, to see where they should head next.

“We need to buy more food. I’ve nothing left but a few biscuits and dates,” Skybright said. “I could go into the next town to restock.” She pointed at the map.

“We’ll be lucky if we make it there by evening,” Zhen Ni replied.

Skybright agreed. She’d be much faster in serpent form, but that was no longer a possibility. “Maybe we can risk boarding at an inn tonight.”

“Oh, I’d give anything for a hot bath.” Zhen Ni swept her hands across her dust stained tunic. “But I’m not sure if I can chance it.”

“They aren’t expecting another girl to be traveling with you.”

Her mistress smiled, hope coloring her cheeks. “That’s true.”

Using Skybright’s compass as a guide, they took as brisk a pace as they could through the forest, stopping in the late afternoon to nibble on a smoked sausage that Zhen Ni had wrapped in paper smeared with grease. She cut it in slices with her knife, and said, “This is all I’ve got left besides some dried dates I found at the bottom of my knapsack.”

The forest was dense and wild where they had stopped. It didn’t seem as if a person had ever passed through. “According to the map, if we descend westward, we should cross the main road leading to Shan An,” Zhen Ni said.

The girls pressed on without rest after their short meal, both hoping to reach the town while the inns were still open. By the set of Zhen Ni’s shoulders, Skybright knew that her mistress was tired. Skybright tried not to drag her own feet as she walked.

The bird song of dusk gave way to the sounds of night insects and the rustling of nocturnal creatures. An owl hooted in the distance. They continued on, carrying their lanterns, fighting through thick brush and low branches at times. But the foliage only seemed to grow denser as they headed westward. Finally, Skybright stopped them, pausing to drink from a shallow stream. She had heard its trickle, and was relieved when she actually found it in the darkness, guided by its burbling.

“I think we’re lost, mistress. We should rest for the night.”

Zhen Ni sat down without a word, removing her shoes with a sigh. Skybright wet a cloth for her and wiped her face and neck. Her mistress smiled, dipping her hands into the shallow water. “You’re too good to me, Sky.”

Skybright didn’t answer, but squeezed Zhen Ni’s shoulder.

“Your wound healed,” Zhen Ni said after a long silence. “Very quickly.”

Startled, Skybright touched the scar running across her left cheek. She had forgotten about it. “Nanny Bai made me a special ointment,” she muttered.

“You appear different somehow. Same, but different.” Zhen Ni gave a low laugh. “That made little sense.” She lifted her lantern as she leaned closer to examine the scar. “It’s so long, and raised.” Her fingertips hovered over it. “Does it hurt still?”

“No, not since the stitches came out.”

“It healed well. I’m even more impressed by Nanny Bai’s abilities now.” Zhen Ni pulled a wooden brush from her knapsack. “Come, let me brush your hair for a change. You’re looking disheveled.”

Skybright turned her back and let her mistress remove the pins from her hair and brush it in long, even strokes. She remembered Stone’s warm palm cupping her cheek, healing her, saw again the flash of Kai Sen’s saber as he raised it to kill her. Her scalp prickled at the memories, spread until her face felt hot. She was glad that her mistress could not see, as Skybright drew a long breath and tried to forget it all.

Skybright had found a spot sheltered below overhanging boughs, so they could be protected on one side by a giant trunk, at least. She fell asleep instantly, worn from the long day of walking.

She woke in the middle of the night in demon form and jolted, whipping her serpent length away from Zhen Ni. She was about to change back when she felt the vibrations in her coil, the stomping of hundreds of feet in a heated battle a league away. Kai Sen had said the last time she saw him that the battles were moving down Tian Kuan mountain, just as Zhen Ni and she were traveling in the same direction toward Lan’s home town. Skybright knew with certainty in her heart that Kai Sen was fighting in this battle.

Peering down at Zhen Ni, she saw that her mistress was deep in sleep. She always had been a heavy sleeper. The demons and undead never strayed too far from the actual battle, and her serpentine senses told her they were tightly converged in their fighting tonight. Zhen Ni would be all right as long as Skybright kept her senses on alert. She moved faster than any demon or undead she’d encountered, and if one began wandering in her mistress’s direction, she could intercept it.

She slithered silently into the glooming thicket, guided by the pulsations in the earth, her thoughts on Kai Sen. The dense trees opened onto a shallow valley anchored between two forests, strewn with sandstone pillars similar to those she had seen earlier. But over half of them had toppled, making for an uneven fighting ground. Many monks stood on the fallen sandstones so they were better matched in height with the giant demons. Skybright guessed there were at least fifteen of the towering half-human monsters, more than she had ever seen before.

Undead jostled, listless and hungry for mortal flesh. But for the first time, she glimpsed other terrible creatures: spiders the size of large sows with children’s faces and giant insect eyes, shadowy figures drifting in bloodstained robes, without feet or faces, their long hair unbound behind them. Both emitted an unbearable keening that Skybright could feel in the roots of her teeth. While the monks set fire to the undead, they decapitated the spider children and faceless demons. The creatures spewed thick black blood from the stumps of their necks and continued to scurry and float for a long time after, headless.

It was a grotesque sight, yet Skybright felt no horror or fear for herself, only concern for Kai Sen. She scanned the mobs for him, unable to place his scent in the chaos of smells that rose from the carnage. Hundreds of monks fought against hell’s creatures, and the valley nestled between the thick trees was littered with corpses of mortals and monstrosities alike. She glimpsed the bloodied bodies of dead monks, still grasping their swords, mingled with the severed heads of the bestial and mutant, mouths gaping in hatred. She dared not look too long at the slain men, terrified that she might recognize Kai Sen’s face among them.

The vibrations from the battle shuddered through her—and Skybright knew that no creatures wandered beyond that tight circle of intense fighting. Zhen Ni was safe asleep a league away. The pungent reek of black blood shed by the slain creatures mixed with the metallic taste of human blood assaulted her senses. She finally saw Kai Sen standing on one of the fallen pillars on the far left of the fray, fighting another giant demon. This time it was one with the head of a goat, its horns curving forward into dangerous points. It swung a sword that was twice as long as Kai Sen’s saber, and she watched, her heart in her throat, as he leaped on the pillar beyond its wide swings, then dashed back to slash at the demon, drawing blood each time.

The goat demon roared, loud enough that even Skybright could hear it from this great distance. Without thinking, she slithered behind the tree line toward Kai Sen, hidden enough so no one could see her. She heard his chanting when she was parallel to him, heard the strong surge of his voice. But it lacked the warmth she was familiar with. He seemed leaner in the face, although his arms were wiry as ever, ropes of muscles working as he attacked his foe.

The goat demon stomped its cloven hooves, but it was clear that it could not move from where it stood, rooted by Kai Sen’s spell. It continued to defend itself, determined to stab Kai Sen with its longer sword, even as he danced out of reach every time. But Skybright could see that he was tiring. How many hours had he fought like this, over how many nights? She watched, the tip of her tail writhing anxiously in the dirt. Then the goat demon lunged again, and Kai Sen lost his footing.

Skybright was sliding toward him in an instant, even as Kai Sen twisted out of the way, and the demon’s sword sliced neatly across his torso. Kai Sen continued to chant, his voice never wavering, while he backed away on the stone pillar, trying to reorient himself. She saw how fast his chest rose and fell beneath his bloodied tunic, how tightly he gripped his saber.

Then she was upon the goat demon, and she reared high on her coil, sinking her fangs into the back of its naked thigh. Her venom shot into its muscular flesh, filled her mouth with bitterness. It roared again, and turned, sword raised to plunge straight into her. But she had already slithered beyond its reach. It swayed on its feet, fiery eyes piercing Skybright’s, before crashing like timber. The goat demon twitched for a long time, its hooves marking deep grooves in the dirt. Finally, it stilled. Skybright knew it was dead with a flick of her tongue. She hissed in triumph, only to lift her face and see Kai Sen, standing near the pillar ledge once more, staring at her with those dark eyes ablaze.

She whipped around, sliding back toward the forest, as fast as she could. Multiple feet seemed to stomp behind, and she threw a backward glance; four undead were jumping toward her, arms thrust stiff in front of them. Wretched things.

“Kai Sen!” Someone shouted from the distance.

His friend Han tossed a torch to Kai Sen. Skybright felt Kai Sen’s footsteps, then heard the grunts of the undead and familiar crackling sounds as he set them on fire. She didn’t turn until she was within the forest, and saw Kai Sen decapitate all four with clean strong strokes of his saber. He didn’t pause after killing them, but ran to the forest edge and stopped at the tree line, peering into its impenetrable gloom. She slid further back, silent, and he scanned the shadows, seeming to look directly at her for a moment. Warmth rose in her chest, crept up her neck.

His mouth was drawn into a tight line, his shoulders bunched and tense. Kai Sen stood like that for a long time, the muscles of his jaw flexing, before he finally lowered his head and turned away from the trees. Away from her.

He retreated, back straight, a blazing torch in one hand and a blood-stained saber in the other. Han and another monk ran up to Kai Sen, and he passed his weapons before removing his tunic. He raised his arms so Han could wrap a bandage around his torso before pulling the dirty tunic back on and taking his weapon, without so much a pause for rest.

Skybright watched as he ran back to the fray to slaughter more undead and monstrosities.

And she didn’t think it possible that she could, in that moment, miss him more.