you tell me where that bitch has taken my daughter!”
“Aaagh…” It was the only thing Lihua could manage as the arrows began to push their way through her body. “No…”
“No what?” Shihong inquired, “No, you won’t tell me or no, make it stop?”
“I…I…will…never…”
The closest to her heart began to press down on it, and it began to beat rapidly in panicked response. Lihua’s back arched and she grimaced, refusing to cry out. “Tell me, Lihua.”
Breathing was nearly impossible and it felt like her heart was going to free itself from her chest.
She’d been giving this man what he’d wanted since the day he’d bought her. She would not spend her last moments alive capitulating to this tyrant.
“Ai taught you the Chronicles, did she not?” Shihong continued, “ I am the Emissary of Mistress Yin, Lihua. Through her our baby will wield a power unlike any the world has ever known. She will rule this world, with my guidance, do you understand?”
Lihua couldn’t believe what she was hearing, especially since Shihong seemed to excited by the proposition. It was just a bigger reason to keep her daughter out of his hands.
Shihong was right about one thing. While Ai had never told her about the gods granting power to humans, she had taught her the Chronicles.
Amen….Lihua found herself staring at the frozen, naked bodies of the women Ro’s agents had dragged to the area.
These people are innocent. My daughter is innocent, and has nothing to do with this. I don’t know if you can hear me, you’ve never answered me before, but please…if you can hear me, take my life, spare these women. Spare these children.
Shihong was still speaking, but Lihua could no longer hear him.
Rise, child.
It was a unfathomable, prevailing voice in her mind that gave her the command. The arrows tore from her body, but she felt no pain. Her injuries remained, she could see them, but she could no longer feel them. As she saw the confusion descend on Shihong’s face, she looked at her hands and saw them bathed in a shimmering white aura.
She reclaimed her sword beside her and rose unsteadily to her feet.
“How is this…” Shihong gasped, shaking his head.
“Do you think you’re the only one with any faith?” Lihua countered. She then reared back and hurled the sword like a javelin. Shihong flinched, and the sword tore through his shoulder, impaling and spinning him once before he fell to the ground.
With his hold over space and time broken, his agents began moving again, looking to their decapitated leader and letting a murmur of disbelief pass through them.
“Kill her!” Shihong ordered, surprising all of them, “We will find the Hidden Valley on our own!”
“Your master serves evil.” Lihua said softly, “I’ll give you one chance to leave this place.”
The agents seemed confused at first, and then as one, they rushed Lihua.
They might as well have been moving in slow motion. She raised open hands and took them on one at a time. The first one swung with a high right punch. Lihua swayed and delivered a chopping blow to his exposed neck and then flashed her leg high, shattering his mask with a well-placed roundhouse. The second one attempted a flying, spinning crescent kick—no easy task, with all of that armor. Lihua crouched beneath the blow and drove her shoulder into his backside, hurtling him to the ground. She then deflected the punch of someone who attacked her head-on, thrusting the heel of her palm through his face.
She spun, catching the arm of her next would-be assailant and placing herself behind him. She pushed him by the wrist and elbow, sending him flipping to the ground. She crouched, intercepting her next attacker as he tried to chop the side of her face. Holding his wrist behind her head, she rose, hurling him over her shoulder.
She smiled as the last two approached.
Lihua took to the air, surprising both agents by flying between them. In spectacular fashion, she shot her legs out in opposing directions, kicking them simultaneously in the face. They fell together.
Lihua landed and turned back to the women. “Go!” She pointed to one of the homes, “Make your way to the hidden valley--”
She grunted, stumbling forward and holding her heart, which was suddenly racing again. Whatever Amen had given her was wearing off. The gift was temporary, and Lihua knew then…she had to keep her end of the bargain.
Take care of your granddaughter, mom.
Shihong was snickering, watching Lihua’s pain. “You will die for nothing.” He hissed. “Meanwhile, my mistress has ensured I cannot die. I’ll step over your corpse to reclaim my baby.”
Lihua found a small, square panel, no more than two feet in diameter, that was off-color from the rest of the gray concrete, and barely visible through the snow.
“It’s a shame you can’t die.” Lihua said acceptingly, stepping past him, “Because you will never leave this place, Shihong.”
She stepped past him, knelt, closed her eyes, said one last prayer as her breathing became ragged, and pressed the panel.
As the world rumbled around her, the last of her strength left her, and she fell to the ground. She felt nothing, nor heard Shihong’s screams as the tons of snow obliterated the valley.
For Lihua Fan, the end came peacefully.
###
TO BE CONTINUED
IN
UNIVERSAL WARRIOR: ATHEREAN DEFENDERS
Thank You.
Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to download and read my novel. It’s the first work I’ve ever published to the market and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. Thanks again for taking a chance on me.
This story is free and always will be. If you’d like to make a donation to help keep things going, please feel free to do so at https://averyktingle.blogspot.com
Sincerely,
Avery K. Tingle
Author
Universal Warrior: Before Red Morning
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Once homeless, Avery Tingle traveled through twenty-two states in eleven years before returning to his native West Coast to get his life together. He writes to deal with the voices (so many voices) in his head and in his spare time, studies martial arts, cooks, reads graphic novels and makes fan videos. He currently lives in the Seattle area with his wife, Elisha, to whom he credits his ability to stay at home and write.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ironman1176
Facebook: https://facebook.com/averyktingle
Blog: https://averyktingle.blogspot.com
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