The Heavenly Fox (6 page)

"Gentlemen, I'm not who you think I am."

"I should say not," said a familiar voice, now full of exasperation. "Honestly, you two. You call yourselves my disciples and can't tell a goddess from a fox? Get back to your duties."

Looking rather sheepish, the two got to their feet and went back to tending the fire. Just within its glow Springshadow could make out the odd form of Wildeye. He greeted Springshadow courteously.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" he asked.

Springshadow bowed. "I am in distress and have need of your counsel, Immortal One."

He raised one bushy black eyebrow. "Interesting. Let's go out into the sun and talk about it."

They walked out of the shadow of the cave. The air was thin and cold so high up in the mountains, but the sun was pleasant on Springshadow's skin, and far below she could see birds flying. Even the scraggly mountain pines were showing the bright green new growth of spring.

"You do have a lovely view," Springshadow said, "but I know you didn't bring me out here to take the air."

"I didn't want those two fools to hear what we might say," Wildeye said, smiling. "And by the way, you know I'm paying you no compliment when I say how lovely you look."

"No," she sighed. "It's an accusation. I understand this. In my youth I used a form such as this one to bewitch unsuspecting mortal men and drain them of their yang energy, which is how I reached my thousandth year. Shall we now dwell on how you achieved your immortality?"

His smile didn't waver. "That's the problem with old friends — sooner or later there are no secrets between them. I achieved this state neither throughthrough neither Enlightenment nor strict Taoist principles. Rather, I seized a bizarre stroke of luck and stole a Peach of Immortality from the Garden of Heaven. I am immortal only because I cannot be otherwise. You know the story."

"And yet you draw disciples."

He bowed slightly. "That was an accusation, too. And it's true. I can't beat them off with a stick. I know — I've tried. So they do what I say and think they're learning wisdom. In a way, perhaps they are. In the same way, perhaps, that your former lovers did. A hard lesson."

"But wasn't it wrong? I mean, of both of us? What sort of damage have we done?" Springshadow wondered if she sounded as miserable as she felt. Apparently so, because Wildeye raised his eyebrow again.

"Does this shallow contrition have anything to do with your exposure to Heaven?"

"I don’t know," she said, "I just didn't expect Heaven to be so, well, ordinary. When I first heard the babble of voices through the portals, I couldn't believe what I was hearing!"

"What sort of things?"

"Divine scholars worried about their examinations. Trials and disputes. Large feasts and celebrations and music. Lovers’ quarrels! It's all more refined and grand than the mortal world, but otherwise it’s exactly the sort of thing I've experienced here in the Middle Kingdom for the last thousand years!"

Wildeye blinked. "Well, what did you expect?"

"Something to make what I have done worth waiting a thousand years for," Springshadow said. "Something better." Almost in tears, she related her meeting with Sunflash.

Wildeye didn't say anything for several long moments. He finally shook his head. "Springshadow, for a creature who spent a large portion of her mortal existence as a seducer and destroyer of men, you're charmingly naïve. How can one manage a disorderly cosmos? One cannot, and therefore order is essential. Even I know that the mortal world with its kingdoms, scholarly examinations, and hierarchies is simply a paler, shabbier plane of existence than the Heavens. A descent, if you like. You say you want something better? Heaven is better. I've been there and I know. But the one thing it isn't is different. Sunflash may have fooled himself into thinking he was doing you a favor, but in reality he chose what he thought was best for him. With the typical self-centeredness of a fox, he thought that it might be what was best for you, too."

"What if he's right?"

"Then that would be a fortunate happenstance. It does not add to Sunflash's worth. He waited on you to pay his own debts, not to help you with your own, no matter what he said. You know that."

"I know. Guan Shi Yin herself said that he wanted something from me, even though she seemed to think it a noble purpose. From what little I learned of Sunflash, I would dispute that.”

Wildeye smiled. "It is the nature of the Goddess of Mercy to look for the good in people. Sometimes I think she creates it herself if she cannot find it. I've encountered goddesses of justice and gods of storm and war and demons and monsters from the bowels of the earth, but Guan Shi Yin? She's the only one of the whole lot that I truly fear."

"You're a reprobate," Springshadow said frankly. "And, I happen to know, a drunk and a lecher and a thief. So why are you so wise?"

He laughed. "I've managed to array Heaven itself against me. You have a rather odd definition of wisdom, girl."

"It is my own," Springshadow said. "As must be my purpose, if I am to have one. Thank you, old friend. I have much to do."

She took her leave from Wildeye, and only then did she return to Heaven. Specifically, to the Master of the Hall of Records. "Sunflash either has been or is in the process of being reborn as a mortal. Where is he now?" she said.

He frowned. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because I have far more respect for the wisdom and judgment of a reprobate Taoist immortal than that of a Heavenly Fox. Because, while it may be true that debts may be only delayed, not forgiven, it is also true that there is more than one way to settle a debt."

"Is that all?"

Springshadow thought about the matter, and not for the first time. She knew the course she probably should take; the way had been shown to her. If Sunflash was right that she would eventually have to abdicate her immortality and reenter the field of time, then so be it. However, if atonement was necessary, then first she had to understand what she had done to atone for. Right now she only knew of one single thing that needed pardon.

"No, Honored Sir, that is not all. I also wish to know what hell the man once known as Zou Xiaofan has been banished to."

"Again, may I ask why? You have no further business with him."

"With respect, I believe I do. A goddess once asked me why my first instinct was to appear as something I'm not. A god once asked me what truly mattered to me. I don’t know the answer to either question, and I think I should know before I decide what I must do next. I think Xiaofan can help me with this.”

“Why should he do anything for you at all? He has no reason to love you.”

“True, but I know he does.”

“Impossible. You put him in hell! I’ve seen the record myself.”

Springshadow shook her head. “No, I only killed him. Apparently he understood the difference before I did, and I called him an idiot. It would be hypocritical of me to apologize for what I did to him since I would do it again, but calling him an idiot for understanding what I did not? I believe I need to apologize for that. What happens afterwards is something I don't know."

The giant bureaucrat sighed. “This matter is beyond me. I don’t know if the Goddess of Mercy would approve.”

“If you truly want to know the answer to that, then do as I ask. If Guan Shi Yin has something to say, send her to me. She will know where to find me.”

The Master sent for the scrolls without further argument. Later, as Springshadow approached the dark gates of the hell where Xiaofan was confined, she found Guan Shi Yin waiting for her.

Springshadow sighed deeply. "I assume the Master of the Hall of Records took me at my word. Fair enough, but don't try to stop me."

"What if I do?" the goddess asked mildly.

Springshadow looked grim. "I'll fight you. I don't want to, but I will do it."

Guan Shi Yin smiled. "I know you fear me, and that is wise, yet you would test me if I got between you and your goal? Springshadow, I must say you've surprised me. You've discovered something you actually care about. Other than yourself, I mean."

Springshadow trembled. "What is this thing?"

"An obligation: the sort that Sunflash and Hsien Se spoke of. A small one easily discharged, I'll grant you, but your acceptance of it means that your quest is no longer just about you; and at least in some small way, you understand this thing that Hsien Se always understood and Sunflash finally learned."

"I know, and I hate it!" Springshadow said. "But I can't make the feeling go away. I've tried."

The goddess stood aside. "Then your nature is not now what it used to be. You've changed, just a little, and you managed that change while outside the sway of time. I must say I'm impressed. Go talk to Xiaofan, if you wish."

"I don't suppose you would take me to him?"

"Not this time, Springshadow, but please take this with you."

The goddess held out a small porcelain bottle, stoppered with a cork.

"What's this?" Springshadow asked.

"One of my tokens. You may find it useful where you're going."

Guan Shi Yin vanished, and behind where she had stood the gates of hell opened wide, but Springshadow did not move.

"She's gone. Wildeye, You can come out now," Springshadow said.

A large boulder beside the path flashed white and then swirled as if it had suddenly turned into mist. In another moment Wildeye stood beside her on the path.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I may be in human form, but my nose still works. Stones don't normally reek of wine. You, on the other hand..."

"Point taken." Wildeye didn't say anything else for a few moments. And then he was almost hesitant. "Do you...do you really think you can do it?"

"Do what? Find Xiaofan without the Goddess of Mercy's help?"

He grunted. "No. I mean care about something that isn't you. How have you managed? I've been trying for centuries!"

"Then unlike Xiaofan, you actually are an idiot. The point of finding Xiaofan is to stop caring. I'll figure out how to rid myself of this 'obligation' thing, and that will be the end of it."

"Just in case that isn't the end, would you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Teach me what you failed to unlearn."

She let out a sigh. "And you would chain me with yet another obligation? Is there no end to them?"

Wildeye grunted. "Don't ask me. You're the one going back to hell to find out."

Springshadow smiled at him. "Aren't you coming along? You may as well do it openly, if that boulder trick is the best you can do."

He frowned. "That was a good trick...and of course I am. I just didn't think you'd ask me."

"In your own way you've shared this adventure almost from the start. I suppose you have the right to see how it turns out."

"Then let's be on our way...before Guan Shi Yin returns. As I said before, she frightens me."

The two friends approached the open gates of hell, and without even a hint of hesitation they stepped right through.

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About the Author

Richard Parks has been writing and publishing fantasy and science fiction longer than he cares to remember…or probably can remember. His work has appeared in
Asimov’s SF
,
Realms of Fantasy
,
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet
, and several “Year’s Best” anthologies. His first collection,
The Ogre’s Wife
, was a World Fantasy Award Finalist in 2002 and his work has also been a nominee for the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature. He blogs at “Den of Ego and Iniquity Annex #3”, also known as:
www.richard-parks.com

Personal Note: “With or without a traditional publisher (I’ve gone both ways), it’s hard for any writer to develop a readership in these days of fractured genres. If you enjoyed THF, I would appreciate it if you would consider reviewing the book at Amazon, B&N, or the venue of your choice. Word of mouth and reader endorsements are simply the best advertising there is.”