Yin and Yang: A Fool's Beginning (6 page)

Whereas I can only command pure magic itself, there
are sorcerers out there with the most unique of skills. The man
before me is one such example, but I’ve heard of others—from men
and women who can command light itself to the very weather.

“Stay still,” the
plant sorcerer warns.

I dodge past an enormous gnarled root that's cracking
from the pressure of moving at the pace of a sweeping bird. Shards
of bark blister everywhere, and a powerful dank smell fills the
air, mixing with the musty scent of mud to make it feel as if I've
been plunged deep into the earth itself.

I do not stay still.

Just as a clump of roots threatens to grab me by the
ankle, I shift back and slam my left hand into the cobbles. They
burst up in a rain of burning hot stones and shards.

Without thinking, and relying on my instinct, I twist
into that shower of hot stones, and kick them forward.

They hail down on the plant sorcerer, but before they
can do too much damage, his armor lights up, and most of them
scatter across his helmet and chest plate, sizzling as the energy
leaves them.

Castor screams my name, begging me to stop, but I
ignore him.

It has already gone too far. Either I fight and win,
or I lose and am taken away.

Castor has always warned me to stay away from people,
especially anyone in authority. From the police to the army, he is
especially wary of letting me come in contact with people who may
appreciate my powers.

Now I have broken that rule. I have shown my full
might to the Royal Army, and there's no going back. The only way to
get out, is to win and escape.

So with that conclusion pounding hard in my chest, I
jump back as another clump of roots threatens to curl around my
legs.

The plant sorcerer seems to be the only soldier with
any Arak ability in this group, apart from Captain Yang.

But Captain Yang isn't doing anything. In fact, for
the entire battle, he has been standing there, staring at me, like
he always does.

Yes, he looks surprised, shocked that I have attacked
maybe. Or perhaps his real surprise is that a mere woman would have
the gumption to take on the army.

Who knows what he's thinking, but what's important is
he isn't attacking get. That gives me an opportunity to deal with
the plant sorcerer before Yang weighs into the battle.

Though the other soldiers aren't sorcerers, they
aren't pushovers either. They attack in a coordinated, organized
manner, supporting the plant sorcerer and never leaving him open to
attack.

I have only ever trained with Castor, meaning I have
only ever fought one person at a time.

I'm rapidly learning that fighting in a group is
completely different. I can't face everyone at once, and whenever
someone creeps up behind me, I have to turn fast enough to see what
they're about to do.

It's fraught. No, it's beyond fraught: it's virtually
impossible.

Just as I skip backwards, narrowly missing a clump of
roots that threatens to trip me up, a soldier whirls around with
his spear. Thankfully he's not using the pointy end, and only raps
me across the shoulders with the handle.

Still, it's a solid blow, and it drives me to my
knees.

Pain erupts over my arm, but I don't give up.

I just jump up, curl my hands into fists, and keep
fighting.

One soldier gets close enough that he tries to grab
me by the arms. I lock my hands around his head, kick my legs out
from underneath me, and throw the both of us to the ground. Whereas
he lands with a heavy, cracking thump, I absorb the force of the
fall, roll, and push to my feet just as another soldier threatens
to pin me.

Though I shouldn't have the attention left over, I'm
still aware of the fact Captain Yang hasn't done anything yet. A
few times he’s curtly warned his soldiers not to hurt me, but other
than that, he remains standing in the same position staring with
that same fixed concentration.

Castor has always taught me to stand my ground.
According to him, at some point, all battles whittle down to one
simple fact: who is willing to stand firm and sacrifice more to
win.

I've always assumed that means aggressively fighting,
but as I catch a glimpse of Captain Yang standing calmly in the
center of a fraught battle, I realize he's standing his ground in a
completely different way.

With calm, focused attention, he's watching, and
doing little else.

I turn to him again, catching his gaze, and it's a
mistake. The plant sorcerer whirls around, launching himself high
in the air, and striking me across the jaw with a powerful punch.
While he is decked out in full armor, I'm wearing nothing but a
sopping wet tunic. The blow connects, sending my head jerking
backwards. There’s enough force behind that punch to render me
unconscious, but I hold onto scraps of my awareness as I fall
against the shattered cobbles.

In fact, I have just enough focus to feel as roots
suddenly spring up from the ground, coiling around my legs and
arms, and locking me in place.

My nose is bleeding, and I feel the warm liquid
trickling down my cheeks and collecting at the corners of my lips.
As I thrash around on the spot, trying to get free from my wooden
shackles, I cut my wrists and legs too.

It doesn't matter.

Nothing matters but winning.

“Stop struggling,”
the plant sorcerer hisses, his voice sounding almost exactly like a
swift wind rustling through a forest full of leaves.

I ignore him, and keep thrashing about on the spot,
trying to find a weakness in the wood.

“You'll hurt
yourself,” the plant sorcerer warns.

I don't care.

Not only am I focused on escaping, but the longer I'm
trapped, the more I hear that dark muttering. The Night.

For the second time in a day, I feel it coming
closer, far closer than I have ever felt it venture.

That fills me with a terror far more powerful than
the panic of being tied down.

I can feel my bangle starting to react, my fear
coupling with the power within and surging like a tempest.

The wood suddenly feels less like gnarled roots, and
more like an ice-cold shadow reaching out from the depths of the
earth.

“Stop struggling,
girl,” the plant sorcerer warns once more.

I can hardly hear him. In fact, I can hardly see him.
I swear my vision starts to go dark, as if the Sun has been
extinguished in the sky.

“Yin,” I hear someone
call my name, and soon realize it's Castor.

Throughout this entire fight, not once has he come to
my aid. He is meant to be my guardian, but he's simply been
standing there, watching me fight and ultimately fall.

I can't feel betrayed, though, not with that icy
touch wrapping itself around my wrists and legs, threatening to
drown me in its shadowy embrace. The only thing I can feel is gut
wrenching, spine shaking fear. Fear the likes of which ordinary
people will never have cause to feel. The fear that your destiny,
once so grand, is about to come to a violent and untimely end.

Just as I feel the panic reach up and coil itself
around my throat like hands trying to choke me, I'm aware that
somebody leans by my side.

I can hear the creak of armor, the movement of an
arm. Then I feel something being pressed into the center of my
head.

The blackness engulfs me. But not the dark of
Night—the simple embrace of unconsciousness.

I fall into its arms, unable to resist.

Captain Yang

I have no idea what
just happened. This entire mission was meant to be easy. Granted,
we were sent up to this small village to draft Castor Barr, a
legendary warrior. But I had not expected to find
. . . whatever I have
found.

Blinking, I shake my head as I stare down at the now
comatose Yin. I have rendered her unconscious with a sleeping
spell, or at least I hope I have.

“Captain,” Shang says
from behind me. I half turn my head, but am unwilling to take my
eyes off the comatose woman.

Surprising doesn't even begin to define this
situation. Complicated comes close. Whilst my original mission was
to draft Castor and other able-bodied men in this village, now
things have become confusing.

Ordinarily the Royal Army does not draft women. But
there are still some women amongst its ranks, especially sorcerers.
With the power a trained sorcerer can bring to battle, only a fool
would reject one from the army based on gender alone.

As every officer knows, it is their obligation to
bring the existence of any sorcerer to the awareness of the high
command, especially in times of conscription. One powerful
sorcerer, after all, can easily change the tide of battle.

So I know what I have to do. I must take her back to
the capital, and from there, hand her over to the high command.
Either she will be deemed untrainable, or she will be absorbed into
the ranks of the army. If she is deemed untrainable, however, who
knows what the high command will decide to do. In times of war,
they are just as keen to keep hold of their sorcerers as they are
not to let said sorcerers fall into the hands of the enemy.

Shang mutters something to me, but I ignore him. For
several more seconds I lean there next to her. I'm not sure why.
Perhaps I think she has somehow managed to resist my sleep spell,
and will jump to her feet, magic blazing from her hand once
more.

My sleep spell appears to be holding, however. I’m
still wary of her, though.

Whilst she seems impetuous, I can't deny she is also
powerful. She gave two groups of my soldiers a tough fight.
Including Lieutenant Shang, one of the finest plant sorcerers in my
division.

“Sir, we need to
move. I do not trust those rain clouds. I fear there might be snow
on the horizon, and we can’t afford to be trapped in this village.
We must make it back to the capital,” Shang advises.

I mutely nod my head.
Whilst Shang fears that snow is on the way, I know it is. I can
feel it. The power within my Arak device is practically humming
with the certainty that snow will soon fall. A curious fact
considering it's barely autumn. But these mountain ranges are high,
and a good captain knows that
the weather
can change in an instant.

I push myself up, but for a few more seconds, I stare
down at her.

Her hair is a mess over her shoulders and face. Black
and clogged with mud, it looks as if it's barely been brushed in a
year. That's not to say anything of the simple tunic and pants
she's wearing. They are torn, singed, and dirty.

“Captain,” Shang
tries to capture my attention once more.

I turn.

Then the questions start to flood into my mind like a
tidal wave. What exactly happened here? And who is this girl?

Neatening my breastplate, I turn my attention to
Castor Barr. Throughout the entire ordeal, he screamed at Yin to
stop, but he did not intervene. He was not shackled, nor was he
tied down, and considering his reputation, he could have easily
taken on my men. Yet he just stood there, watching, begging her,
but doing nothing to help.

My eyebrows crumpling
down over my narrowed eyes, I run a thumb over my
chin
. “I thought you vowed never to train
anyone again?” I ask Castor as I face off against him.

His lips are pressed closed, and there is a fiery
look in his eyes. But again he doesn't answer.

Not a word.

“You know what we
must do,” I note.

Now Castor's eyes narrow even further, and though I
try to fight it, a twinge of fear escapes up my back.

I know better than most what Castor is capable of.
The very last man he trained in combat was my own father.

Still, I hold my
ground, sidestepping my fear as I straighten up
. “We have an obligation to take any sorcerers back to the
capital for conscription into the army,” I note needlessly, knowing
full well that Castor Barr would understand the regulations of the
Royal Army. He was, after all, one of her finest soldiers for
almost 30 years.

But then, as the story goes, something happened and
Castor Barr disappeared. Renouncing his ties to all friends and
family, he became a mere herbalist in the mountains.

And, as I've just learnt, he accepted one apprentice
during that time. A woman called Yin.

“If you do anything
to her, I will rip your throat out,” Castor now says.

For a man with perfect discipline, his emphatic
threat shakes me. Of course it does. I can see it affects the rest
of my men too. There's something about Castor's deep, rumbling,
gruff tone that would shake through even the strongest man.

Yet once again, I
remain standing. Swallowing lightly, I shake my
head
. “We have no intention of harming
her. Despite the fact she,” I break eye contact with Castor as I
look around the shattered road, “did significant damage to this
village and threatened the lives of imperial soldiers, she will not
be treated as a criminal. We simply intend to follow the dictates
of the law.”

Castor stares at me. While I spent almost the entire
battle staring at the mysterious Yin, the quality of Castor's gaze
is different.

Cold. Contained, but ferocious too.

As a sorcerer of the Royal Army, I was taught from a
young age to control my emotions. From fear to elation to surprise
to love, I have been trained to purge myself of distraction.

Right now, I can’t stop the sweat from prickling
across my brow.

Surreptitiously I make a fist, open it, and then make
another one. I pump my fingers back and forth, reminding myself
that at any moment I can call upon the power of my Arak band.