The Adventures of the Jade Dragon

Episode 8

The Jade Dragon and the Mountain of Heaven

Chapter 7 The Mountain of Heaven

Mist shrouded the top of the mountain slope. Sun Lin and her companions could barely make out the ground in front of them as they toiled upward, carrying their children. Their servants had refused to accompany them any farther and they had been forced to go on alone for the last part of their journey. Caring for their own children, however, was not a task any of the heroines found odious. It slowed their progress, but they were not in any great hurry. The only concern was that they might run short of food before reaching their goal.

They had been climbing steadily for hours, following the route Master Zhou had described. None knew what to expect, they simply went on faith alone. Master Zhou had been Sun Lin’s mentor since her mid-teens. She had become all that she was because of him and trusted him implicitly.

Just ahead the trail entered a narrow canyon. Sun Lin stopped and scanned the rock face, looking for something. Then she nodded. Etched into the rock were a number of ancient Chinese ideographs. This was the place. She took a deep breath and readjusting her hold on Huan Yue she moved up the narrow cleft, her companions following.

They walked on for another ten minutes and then suddenly the cleft opened up into a breathtaking drop. To Sun Lin’s right a sheer cliff rose hundreds of feet above her. To her left the path disappeared in a sheer drop of over a thousand feet to a spectacular valley, cut by a slender blue thread. Ahead of her the path ended in a blank wall.

“Dead end,” muttered Melissa who had come up behind her.

“No,” Sun Lin responded quietly. “This is the place.” Etched into her mind were the instructions given her by Master Zhou. She stepped forward and then simply disappeared.

Melissa blinked. Sun Lin appeared to have walked right into the stone. “Well,” she murmured, “if she can do it so can I.” Holding tight to Solange she stepped into the stone.

Melissa’s skin tingled as she slipped into the seemingly solid rock surface. The stone seemed to flow around her and then dissolve into a thin mist. Just ahead of her she could see Sun Lin standing at the bottom of what appeared to be a flight of stone steps. Behind her Natassia emerged from the stone and stood beside her, like Melissa her eyes were wide with wonder.

“What is this place?” the raven-haired heroine asked. Melissa shook her head.

Sun Lin turned slightly, her face lit up in a beatific smile. “It is the Mountain of Heaven. Our journey is at an end.”

The strange fog about them continued to thin, revealing a panorama that made each of the women catch her breath. Before them stretched a wide flight of stairs rising up the side of a towering cliff. Halfway up, the stairs reached what appeared to be a wide stone balcony before continuing to a distance columned building close to the top of the peak. The entire stairway was lined with hundreds of statues of creatures both real and mythical.

“Now we climb,” said Sun Lin. She started up the stairway, her companions following.

As they climbed the view became even more fantastic, a great valley stretching out behind them. It was made all the more incredible by the fact that the valley existed where there should have been a mountain.

She was waiting for them on the top step. Dressed in diaphanous robes of the finest silk was a woman the like of which the three heroines had never imagined. Taller even than Melissa, the woman moved toward them like a mirage, her hair changing colour from chestnut to midnight black and all colours in between. Her alabaster skin seemed to glow in the strange light that filled the valley, highlighting the soft pink of her lips and nipples. But she was much more than just a vision of the most incredible beauty; she was surrounded by an aura of such power that the three heroines went to their knees unbidden, their heads bowed toward the stone.

Welcome Sun Lin, Xiao Hong, and Zhen Juan; you have been expected.

The woman’s lips did not move, but the crystal sound of her voice filled the minds of the three heroines with a power that was almost overpowering.

Come, you must be tired after your long trek and no doubt wish to care for your children.

The woman gestured behind her. To the surprise of the three heroines they now saw revealed a building in the oriental style. But it was more than a building. It was immense, larger than any building the women had ever seen. It rose wall on wall, tower on tower, and terrace on terrace halfway up the mountain side.

This will be your home until you have completed your training.

The significance of the last comment was somewhat lost on the three women. Caught up in the wonder of the mysterious world they had entered they stared about them trying to take it all in.

The mysterious woman stopped at the bottom of the grand staircase leading to the palace. I will leave you here. This is the last you will see of me until you have completed your training and are ready to leave. As she finished speaking, he image began to fade. Melissa opened her mouth to ask a question, but then slowly shut it. The woman was gone, almost as if she had never existed.

“Was that a dream?” Natassia muttered.

Neither Sun Lin nor Melissa answered. The latter just shook her head. Everything was happening so fast. They had gone from a barren mountainside to some fantastic hidden world and a meeting with a goddess. Just as puzzling was the fact that they seemed to be expected and that the woman had known their Chinese names. Melissa had never revealed hers to anyone, not even Sun Lin or Natassia.

By this time they had climbed up the first terrace to a wide esplanade that extended in front of the palace. Waiting for them were several figures the like of which Sun Lin had never seen, but which Melissa and especially Natassia recognized immediately.

The monk bowed to the three women. “Welcome,” he said in Mandarin, a language that Sun Lin did not understand. Noting her look of confusion he immediately switched to Cantonese and repeated the greeting. “I am Cai Hui. Please accompany me. I will show you to your quarters.”

A Shaolin monk,” thought Natassia. She bowed low, honouring the man who stood before her. Following her example Sun Lin and Melissa also bowed. The monk smiled, and then turning led them toward the great palace.

Huan Yue spun, her lithe, strong body whirling out of reach of her opponent’s attack. Her thick braid extended straight out from her head and then whipped around like a snake as she swept to the attack.

She grinned as Vala executed an astounding back flip in order to save herself; it was a bold maneuver, but one that had worked - this time. Then she was too preoccupied with Solange to worry any more about her first opponent. The tall girl came at her with a whirlwind of kicks and punches, all executed with beautiful grace and precision. The attack would have defeated almost anyone else, but Huan Yue deftly deflected each and every one; spinning clear of every blow.

Solange remained calm, studying the exquisite flow of Huan Yue’s body. Sun Lin’s daughter made the most difficult movements appear easy, deceptively so, as Solange had learned to her cost in almost every encounter with the exquisitely beautiful girl. Like her mother, Huan Yue was tall and strong, her almond eyes reflecting her mother’s Asian heritage. But they also reflected something else. Her almond eyes were a startling sapphire blue; clearly indicating the European heritage of the man who had raped her mother. Solange, of course, knew nothing about Sun Lin’s violation, but there was no hiding Huan Yue’s ancestry.

Melissa watched her tall, graceful daughter as she wove in and out of the make-believe battle. She was incredibly skilled; she had to be to go up against the likes of Huan Yue and Natassia’s two daughters, Vala and Lari. But she more than held her own. Only Huan Yue surpassed her in technique and not by much. Individually, neither Vala nor Lari could match her, but Natassia’s twins had one powerful advantage, a mental bond that allowed the two girls to work almost as one. They were like two halves of a whole. Singly, Solange and Huan Yue were more than their match, but they rarely fought singly, instead they launched intricate attacks that were perfectly coordinated and almost impossible to defeat – impossible unless the defender was Huan Yue or Solange.

Melissa felt a surge of pride as she watched her daughter. She no longer felt the pangs of humiliation she had once suffered every time she looked upon her. The memories were still there – how could they not be after the brutal rape she had suffered at the hands of Shark Stevens? Every time she looked at Solange she could discern Steven’s dark good looks in her daughter’s features, but she now felt only pride at what Solange had become. She was tall, exquisitely proportioned, and beautiful, a blend of grace and strength that placed her far above the ordinary.

She gave Natassia a half smile as the four young women continued their intricate sparring. The raven-haired heroine returned it and then switched back to watching her daughters. Vala and Lari bore the features of their father, the now dead Chinese henchman of crimelord Zhuang Zhijian. Dark-haired and dark-eyed the twins exuded an exotic attraction that went beyond mere beauty. Tall and slender like their mother, they were indistinguishable. Not even Natassia could tell one from the other, a factor that the twins had been known to play upon from time to time. Just now, however, they were deadly serious as they took part in the melee against Huan Yue and Solange. They were not supposed to be cooperating, but so strongly was that instinct bound within them, that they tended to work together without thinking.

The movements of the four young women resembled a martial ballet, an artistic but deadly combination of grace and lethality. So great were their skills that it had become necessary to separate them from the other pupils in the Mountain of Heaven.

A few feet away Sun Lin reflected on her own powers. She had entered the Mountain of Heaven confident in her own abilities, but well aware of the fact that she was still a woman and subject to the dangers that every woman faced when going up against evil. Her forced impregnation had been proof of that. Now, however, she was something else. Her child had grown from an infant to a young woman and her own powers had increased in proportion. She, Melissa, and Natassia had changed immeasurably, their powers greater than they could have dreamed. But she and her companions had paid a price for it. They had been seventeen years in the Mountain of Heaven, although strangely, none of the heroines showed the slightest sign of aging. It was as if time was somehow suspended in the Mountain of Heaven. Only the children changed, growing naturally while their elders stayed the same.

Cai Hui had first appeared to them as a young man in his late twenties. He now seemed no older, despite the passage of seventeen years. And Cai Hui was much older even than this. His knowledge and skills were prodigious, far too great for one who appeared so young. She knew now why Master Zhou had told her so little about the Mountain of Heaven. Had she known that seventeen years of her life would pass before she left she would have hesitated to make the journey in the first place.

She started as Cai Hui’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Turning quickly she bowed to her master, the other six women following her example. She sensed at once that there was something special about Cai Hui’s presence. It was rare for him to interrupt a training session.

Cai Hui returned the bows and spoke quietly. “Your time here is now finished. Return to your cells. Tomorrow you leave the Mountain of Heaven.”

Cai Hui turned away without another word. There was something about his body language that made Sun Lin want to call out to him, but she remained silent. She knew, however, as she watched him go that it was the last she would ever see of him.

Sun Lin stood silently for a few seconds. Cai Hui’s blunt announcement was no surprise. For the last few months she had sensed that her training was coming to an end. Now it had been confirmed. Without a word she moved toward her cell, her companions following.

The seven women stood in a semicircle. The minds of the three mothers went back to the time seventeen years before when they had first entered the Mountain of Heaven. The light flickered about them and a familiar form materialized before them.

Greetings my children. Unbidden the seven women went to their knees as the goddess appeared once more. She was bathed in a shimmering light which only added to her ethereal beauty.

You have completed your training. You are now fully versed in the ways of the Tao. When you leave here you will find that each you have talents as yet untested and undiscovered. It is for you to bring forth your new gifts and you will need them. The world is faced with a great many evils and it will require all your strength, courage and compassion to defeat them.

As the goddess finished speaking she slowly faded, seeming to simply evaporate. Sun Lin rose from her prone position, her mouth opening to ask the identity of the unnamed enemy, but the goddess was gone and then as Sun Lin and her companions watched in stunned surprise the terrace where they were standing blurred, transforming into a broken rock shelf.

Sun Lin blinked in surprise as the Mountain of Heaven and its environs twisted like a mirage and then dissolved into a barren mountainside. It was as if the mystical place had never existed.

“Well,” said Melissa wryly. Breaking the sudden silence. “Not much of a farewell.”

Sun Lin allowed herself a half smile. Seventeen years in the Mountain of Heaven had not changed Melissa’s sometimes ebullient yet cynical personality.

Her gaze swept over the landscape before her. Her sudden departure from the Mountain of Heaven had left her completely disoriented, but in a few seconds she realized that she was standing on the same mountain ledge where she had entered the Mountain of Heaven seventeen years before. She touched the rock face that had parted to allow her to enter the mystical hidden kingdom, but this time she pressed her hand against solid stone. There would be no returning to the place that had been her home for seventeen years. She tried to remember how far it was to the nearest village. It had taken them hours to reach the spot on the mountain trail seventeen years before. She turned to her companions. “Well, if we want to find someplace to eat and sleep we had better get moving.” Melissa and Natassia nodded and then without another word they and their four daughters moved off after Sun Lin, following in single file behind her.

It took them three hours to make their way to the tiny village they where they had stayed before beginning their ascent seventeen years before. As they neared the outskirts they could see that it was very much the same as they had left it. Sun Lin’s jade eyes narrowed. There was something wrong. The village was too much the same. She halted and spoke to her friends. “This can’t be.” She gestured toward several mules graving in a paddocks. “Those are the mules we rode and used to carry our gear, but they should be long gone. Why are they still here and why are they seemingly unchanged?”

A chill ran down Melissa’s spine. A wild idea ran through her mind. Without replying to Sun Lin’s comments she headed toward the hut of the village headman. It was the largest building in the village and she remembered it from the last time she had been there. Outside the hut working on a crude wooden plow was the village headman. He looked up and smiled as Melissa approached.

“I see,” the headman said, as he bowed reverently to Melissa, “that you and your companions have returned. I trust that you found what you were looking for.”

Melissa’s eyes widened. The man was being helped by several of his children. Not one of them looked any older than they had when she had passed through the village seventeen years before.

Natassia said felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. After the strange life she and her companions had led in the Mountain of Heaven there should have been little that could have surprised her, but the realization that the rest of the world had not changed during the long years that they had trained left her stunned.

The headman stepped toward Sun Lin. He bowed. “I have something for you.”

Sun Lin’s brow creased in puzzlement, her confusion obvious. Things just kept getting stranger and stranger.

The headman gestured toward the door of his hut. “Please follow me.”

Now completely baffled Sun Lin and the other women entered the hut. Inside it seemed no different from a million humble dwellings scattered throughout the land except for a large plain wooden box situated in the middle of the single room. The headman went to the box and without any ceremony threw back the lid. Inside were a number of cloth wrapped objects. The headman picked up the top one and handed it to Sun Lin.

Sun Lin knew what it was before she removed the cloth wrapping. Its weight and shape were unmistakable. Before her gleamed two disc-like objects. Even in the dim light of the hut, they shone with an unnatural brightness. Holding her breath, Sun Lin took one in each hand. “Fire wheels,” she thought. The discs were perfectly balanced and fit her hand as if specially crafted for her. Around the edge of each disc were set razor edged flanges intended to shred flesh and bone. “Beautiful,” she murmured. She didn’t now what else to say. How did weapons of such incredible beauty come to be in this obscure Chinese village?

Melissa was next. Unwrapping her bundle she beheld a shining silver blade. “Incredible,” she muttered as she closed her hand about the hilt. The blade felt as light as a feather and the haft fit her hand perfectly. Lifting the gleaming steel she swung it slowly noting the perfect balance of the elongated S-shaped blade. “A Song sword,” she murmured. “Exquisite.” Slowly she sheathed the blade and turned to watch what gift was provided for the remaining women.

The headman bowed to Vala and Lari and motioned them forward. The two young women stepped up and the headman handed them two cloth-wrapped bundles about seven feet in length. “Ahhh,” the girls murmured. The cloth fell away revealing a pair of pudao. Each was fashioned of gleaming steel the three- foot gleaming blade razor-edged. The four-foot wooden shaft was polished ash. Deftly the two girls twirled the beautifully weapons, marveling at their perfect balance.

Solange and Huan Yue now presented themselves. Two bundles remained, each containing a jian, a Chinese straight-bladed sword that tapered gradually to a razor point. Each blade was individually crafted to each woman and inlaid with jade and gold at the haft and pommel. The blades sang as they two girls sliced the air with them before sheathing them. Now only Natassia remained, but the box was empty.

The henchman bowed to the powerful heroine. “Your gifted is contained within you,” he said. “It is yours to discover and is as wondrous as any of the weapons that have been given out to the others.” He closed the box. “Now you are complete,” he continued. “You are returning to a world that is even more dangerous than the one you left. You will need every advantage. These gifts will aid you in your quest for the truth. Use them well.”

The seven women low bowed to the headman, now realizing that he was much more than he seemed. “You will stay here tonight,” the headman continued. “Tomorrow you leave and seek your destiny.”

There was, however, little sleep for any of the young women that night. In spite of the fact that the sleeping quarters were no worse than what they had been used to for the last seventeen years in the Mountain of Heaven all of the woman were too excited and stunned by the sudden change in their lives to find any rest. The next day they set out, riding the same mules that they had ridden during the journey to the village seventeen years ago. It was a strange beginning to their reintroduction to the outside world. The seven women rode on, wondering what the future held for them. Whatever it was it promised to test their skills to the utmost.

High on a mountain ledge two pairs of eyes followed the women as they moved into the distance. “Well,” said Cai Hui, “we have done our best. Now it is up to them.”

The tall white-skinned figure beside him nodded. They will succeed, but they way will not be easy. Many trials and tribulations await them. The world is entering an age of peril and they will have their part to play in it.

Cai Hui stood and watched the women as they grew smaller and smaller, finally moving out of sight over a hill. How he longed to go with them. But he could not do that, not yet. Slowly he turned, and together with the paled-skinned goddess he stepped into the stone of the mountainside.

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