Wrath of the Blue Lady (36 page)

Shang-Li focused and drew the calm into his body that his father had always instilled in him, and he drew upon the stubbornness that he knew came from his mother and her people as they lived unfettered in the forests of their homeland. Both had taught him skills, and neither had raised someone that would quit. He felt the turbulent power coursing through his fighting sticks.

“No,” he said. “You’re going to have to choose.” He joined the fighting sticks into the staff as he sprinted forward.

Just in front of the line of sea shambles and Nine Golden Swords warriors, Shang-Li planted the staff and vaulted over their heads. The storm winds howled and crashed into him as he left the ship’s hull. He landed atop a sea shamble, ran across two more, then flipped into the air. He flicked the blades out at both ends of the staff and thrust it toward the Blue Lady’s heart.

Surprised by the attack, the Blue Lady drew back in the air, unmoved by the winds that she had summoned. Her hold on Kwan Yung failed and he dropped to the ship’s hull.

Shang-Li dropped to the deck and gathered himself again. Then he sprang once more to the attack, chasing the Blue Lady forward toward the prow and the writhing mass of tentacles that Thava and Red Orchid battled.

“You forfeit your life, manling.”

Remaining focused on the Blue Lady, Shang-Li bashed a Nine Golden Swords warrior from his path, knocking the man back into the rough sea, and gaining speed. Swallow moved more sluggishly beneath him and he knew she was taking on water. Either the canvas air pocket ripped or the sailors hadn’t been able to keep the opening sealed.

More red missiles struck the Blue Lady and lit her up in scarlet fire for a moment. Shang-Li took heart in the

knowledge that Amree still lived, and if she lived there was hope that Iados did as well.

Hurt and distracted, the Blue Lady searched for Amree and threw out a hand. By that time, Shang-Li had reached the ship’s prow and ran out of hull. Surefooted as a deer, he leaped for one of the squid’s rising tentacles and caught it with one hand. As the creature flicked its tentacle, Shang-Li took advantage of the power and movement and launched himself at the Blue Lady. He gripped the staff in both hands and aimed one of the blades at her heart.

The Blue Lady moved at the last instant and the staff missed piercing her heart, instead passing through her chest just below her shoulder. No longer able to maintain her levitation because of Shang-Li’s additional weight or the pain from the wound, she dropped into the sea.

Shang-Li clung fiercely to the staff as he plunged below the waves. At first he held his breath, then he remembered the water-breathing potion was still in effect. He breathed in easily and moved with fluid grace despite the water.

The Blue Lady flailed at him, striking his face and smashing his cheekbone. Shang-Li’s eye swelled shut immediately and he breathed through the incredible pain. He kept his fists locked around the staff. As they sank in the depths, the Blue Lady drew a dagger and attacked him, plunging it through his leather armor into his chest, seeking his heart. No effort was made to keep him alive now. The dagger bit deeply.

Afraid that if he pulled the staff from her he would lose her and she would be free in her element, Shang-Li separated the staff into fighting sticks again. One of them held fast to the Blue Lady, and the other came free in his hand. Both of them glowed with black fire.

They struck again and again as they sank. Blood streamed around them as they dropped toward the azure glow of the Blue Lady’s realm. Finally, she stopped moving, and Shang-Li didn’t have the strength to strike again. He

had no strength left in him and knew blood spewed from him. Sharks circled and drew near.

Then strong arms wrapped around him from behind and a soft cheek pressed against his face. Amree disengaged Shang-Li from the Blue Lady, then swam up with him toward the surface. With his head back, Shang-Li saw the moonlight growing brighter. Then he saw nothing at all.

Two days later, Shang-Li sat in a longboat with bandages covering his wounds. The few healing potions they’d had had saved his life, but until they were able to reach a cleric or get more potions, he had to heal naturally. Pain flooded his every waking moment.

“Easy, easy,” Red Orchid shouted as longboat crews pulled at Swallow. Ropes connected them to the ship and they gradually righted her as other crewmen shifted the ballast in the ship’s hold. But Swallow came up to the surface, water dripping from her furled sails. A moment later the ship sat at anchor on the Sea of Fallen Stars. Some of her yards were broken once more, but the hole in the hull was patched and she was more or less watertight.

Shang-Li shook his head in wonderment.

“What?” his father asked. “Did you think Amree would not be able to do as she’d set out to do.

“Not that. I’m just surprised that so many of us are still alive.”

Thava and Iados labored in the longboats with the rest of the surviving crew. Amree called out directions from the ship’s prow.

“We lived,” his father stated simply. “We fought for ourselves and the gods favored us. Hopefully we still have many things to accomplish to justify their trust in us.”

“Or maybe we were lucky.”

His father snorted. “Even your mother wouldn’t have agreed with that.” “You’re right.”

Reaching into a basket at his feet, his father handed him a bowl of cooked rice. The provisions had come from one of the cargoes they’d managed to rescue. “You need to eat. Get your strength back.”

Although he didn’t feel hungry, Shang-Li did as his father bade him. It wasn’t worth the argument, and he knew his father wouldn’t give up.

“Do you think we’ve seen the last of the Blue Lady?” Iados asked hours later when they’d returned to the ship.

Shang-Li stood at the railing where sailors worked on repairs and peered down into the calm ocean. As soon as the Blue Lady had vanished into the sea, the storm had abated.

“I do,” he told the tiefling. “She was dead. No one could have lived through that.”

“You did.”

“I had help.”

“You do realize there are probably several fortunes lying at the bottom of the sea down there. As well as a potential door to somewhere else.”

“You do realize that in order to get to any of that treasure, much less return home safely,” Amree said behind

him, “you’re going to have to have a fit ship. And you’re not going to have that if you don’t get to work.”

“Harpy,” Iados said beneath his breath.

“I heard that.” Amree walked away, already giving orders to the ship’s crew

Shang-Li glanced up at the broken and splintered yards. Moonwhisper sat there looking regal and distant, doubtless thinking of mice and other small snacks.

Kwan Yung walked up with a cleric’s kit. “Come.” He gestured at Shang-Li. “Let me rebind your wounds.” He waved to the deck. “Sit.”

Shang-Li sat and held still as his father checked the stitches. The flesh was raw and abraded. Thankfully there didn’t appear to be any permanent damage, but healing would take time.

“This may hurt,” his father warned. “Do not cry. I don’t want you to shame me.”

In spite of the pain and everything they’d been through, Shang-Li laughed. For a moment. His father smiled at him. Then Kwan Yung started working on his wounds and the real pain began.

“Do you regret coming with me on this quest?” his father asked.

Shang-Li thought about that for a moment. “No. It made me remember.”

“Remember what?”

“When we used to do things together.”

His father shrugged. “Sons turn into men. You can’t be someone’s son forever. We will argue and disagree. We will see the world differently.”

“Or,” Shang-Li said, “we could start seeing some of the world together and find things we can agree on.”

His father looked at him and smiled. “Sometimes the son can teach the father new things. I would like that. I find the monastery too lonely at times.”

Quietly, Shang-Li reached forward and gave his father

a hug. To his surprise, thought it was in public and such things weren’t supposed to be done in public if at all, his father hugged him back.

His father patted his shoulder. “But do not think I will let you forget you spilled that sauce on purpose in the Pirate Isles, Shang-Li.”

“Of course you won’t.”