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The Healing Rituals traditionally took place in a pagoda surrounded by ancient oak trees and girded by a hedge of Jasmine. A tributary of the stream that ran through the Temple grounds had been guided into a circular channel around the pagoda.
At the small stone bridge over the channel, the Novice took Kai’s jacket, gloves and shoes, “Go into the pagoda, Miss Riordan. I’ll return with your things once the ritual is over.”
Kai nodded. She could see Amira and the two journeymen waiting in the ornately carved structure, “Thank you.”
The novice bowed and returned to the temple. Kai walked over the bridge, feeling the tiled surface cool under her bare feet and catching snatches of images from the last few people to have a healing ritual. Each one accompanied by a sound, scent or both. I hope that this works, and I can just go back to doing my normal things.
On the other side, one of the Journeymen met her. He bowed and took her arm to lead her up the steps into the pagoda. Inside, Amira gave her a brief smile and gestured to the reclining chair in the middle.
“Sit down and relax, Miss Riordan. This shouldn’t take very long”
Kai did as she was told, and the chair reclined under her. Amira stood at her head, the journeyman who had led her in, stood on her left and the other Journeyman stood to her right. A fourth Journeyman that Kai hadn’t seen stood at her feet.
“I want you to close your eyes, Kai. My Journeymen will be holding your hands and feet. I know what that will do to you but try to remain calm.” Amira said.
Looking up into Amira’s eyes, Kai licked her lips and swallowed, suddenly nervous. Then she closed her eyes, trying to relax. As each Journeyman took hold of their respective limb, she was assailed with images, scents and sounds. The first brought a kitten playing with a toy mouse, the delighted meows and every move brought a puff of catmint to her nose.
The second image was of a young dragon child, holding a bunch of Jasmine up. The wafting flower scent tickled Kai’s nose and she sneezed. The third image was of an elderly dragon woman, a bouquet of roses in her hands. The stimuli sent waves of sensation through her body and her own memory responded I haven’t had this many images at once since the first time I had sex... and that was only one person. I’m not sure I can... she felt panic building and took several deep breaths, trying to relax again.
Amira laid her hands gently on either side of Kai’s face. “Keep your eyes closed and keep deep breathing. You may feel a warmth all over.”
Kai nodded.
The images faded out of her mind as she breathed as deeply as she could, although the scents of catmint, jasmine and rose remained, joined by a scent that Kai recognised as the beeswax based lavender cream that Amira used to keep her scales smooth.
“Bring to mind the confrontation with the mage, specifically, what he said to you before he died.” Amira’s voice was a calm monotone and Kai drifted into the memory of that night...
...Behind her, Chamberlain shrieked in fear as two of the wolves approached him, “I swear on the life of the Black Dragon, if you come any closer, I will kill myself.” The ball of light became blood red and the wolves growled again.
Wei Tian spun Kai round, obviously intending on defending the mage, but as the point of the sword came toward him, Chamberlain’s face filled with anger.
“You led them to me. You won’t come away from this unharmed, Hunter.” He shouted at her and as he threw himself toward her, Wei Tian brought the sword up. The blade’s tip slipped smoothly into the mage’s body, blood running down the blade and flooding over her hands.
“No!” Kai screamed.
The mage grinned and took a step, then another and another until his chest met the hilt of the sword. The ball of red light grew to surround the two of them.
“I didn’t want to kill you, I just wanted to defend you from them.” Kai said, tears streaming down her face.
“But I wished to die, Hunter. Without Jai-Lo’s love. I am nothing. At least now I can join him on the steps of Heaven, having died an honourable death by blade.” The mage replied, “But despite my gratitude for that, you led them to me when you could have let me go. Therefore, for the rest of your life you will regret the lifestyle you have chosen.”
She stared at him, confused.
Chamberlain coughed, blood flooding out of his mouth. He spat the stuff out to one side and said, “You move through an interesting world, Hunter; Now you will live that world every day for the rest of your very, very, very long life. I curse you with my heart’s blood that lies on your hands; I curse you to true immortality and everlasting change.”
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AMIRA BEGAN TO CHANT in a language that Kai didn’t recognise. The words weren’t clear enough to make out and she got the feeling that she wouldn’t want to know what they were anyway. Concentrating on her breathing, she pushed the curiosity away and tried to relax again.
The warmth that Amira talked about surrounded her, it seeped into her flesh and bones, and bit by bit, Kai drifted into a state that was neither sleeping nor awake. The chant seemed to slide her mind away from her body until she floated above it. Her breathing and heartbeat disappeared from her awareness and calm filled her.
Colour began to pulse around her; red, orange, yellow, blue, green... gold.
Amira’s chant changed slightly, and the colours became brighter. She gestured and the colours separated and floated down in front of her, where the dragon priestess inspected each one carefully. Finally, she passed them back and they combined into one cloud again, surrounding Kai with light.
The chant altered for a third time and Kai slipped back into her body. She became aware of her breathing and heartbeat again.
As the chant ended, Amira and the journeymen removed their hands and Kai opened her eyes. I don’t feel different. Did she do anything to me or is it impossible to change it?
“Kai-Lynn Riordan, I have examined your aura and abilities. I need to speak with you in private about the results, but I can confirm that you are in perfect health for a human woman of your age.”
“Thank you.” Kai felt the chair return her to sitting and she wriggled a bit, feeling pins and needles starting in her right leg.
“If you will wait for me in the Arboretum, I will be with you shortly.” Amira and the three journeymen bowed to her and walked back to the temple.
Kai stood up and followed, walking back across the bridge. The Novice reappeared with her jacket, shoes and gloves, but for some reason she didn’t feel like putting them on, “Which path to the Arboretum from here, please?”
The novice smiled and pointed to a raked earth path that broke off from the paved one they stood on and headed north through a stone archway in the jasmine hedge, the thick woods of the arboretum visible just beyond.
She stepped off the paving and onto the earth. Sand feels gritty underfoot, there’s no grit in this dirt though, it feels like walking on a cloud. Kai could sense the strength of the world beneath her feet, and it scared her a little, But I feel calmer with every step, as if the earth is taking away my stress.
By the time she reached the grassy path that led to her favourite clearing, Kai’s mind was as clear as it had been a few days ago. She entered the clearing and sat down on the rock bench.
The Yáogǔn jīngshén touched her mind gently, “Good afternoon, Niánqīng nǚzǐ, how are you. Your heart is a lot calmer today.”
“Hello. Yes, I feel more peaceful, thank you for asking.” Kai said.
The grass beneath her feet tickled and rustled in the breeze that swept into the clearing. It sent ripples across the pool in the opposite direction to the ripples from the entry of the stream.
“The Priestess approaches.” The Yáogǔn jīngshén remarked, “She is not happy. Have you argued today?”
Kai frowned, “I don’t think so. I would never do anything to hurt Amira.”
Amira stood at the entrance to the clearing, “Come back to my workshop, Kai. I have something to tell you.”
“Time for me to go, Yáogǔn jīngshén. I’ll come talk to you again properly some time.” Kai stood up.
“You are welcome at any time, Niánqīng nǚzǐ.” The rock spirit fell silent as she moved away.
She followed Amira quietly. She is not happy about something; the tips of her ears have fallen down in line with her hair. Just outside Amira’s workshop, Kai dusted her feet down and put her shoes back on. The feeling of enclosure was immediate and uncomfortable, but she tried to ignore it.
Once inside, Amira went through her normal ritual of making tea for them. Kai stood beside the chair she normally sat in, trying to figure out what was wrong with her friend.
“Sit down, I’m not going to bite you.” Amira brought the tea over and put the tray down on the table.
“Well, you’ve never been this obviously unhappy before... I’m not sure what to expect.” Kai sat down carefully.
“I’m not unhappy with you; it’s the news I have to tell you that I’m not happy with.” She sat and began to pour the tea.
“Let me see if I can guess. The mage cursed me, and I’ll never be able to use my abilities properly again.” Kai took the cup that Amira handed her.
“Yes, and not exactly.” Amira sipped her tea thoughtfully, “Your abilities have been increased. The curse appears to have accelerated the natural progression of their evolution.”
“Well, that could be useful.” Kai drank some tea and winced as it burned her tongue a little.
“You have also gained something that most human mages would kill to claim; Immortality.” Amira passed her the milk jug and waited while she doctored her tea a little more.
“I can’t die?” Kai almost dropped her cup.
“You would have to have your head severed from your body to actually physically die, but otherwise you will find that you heal minor wounds and bruises immediately and recover from serious accidents and illnesses within days.” Amira said, “You are not invulnerable.”
“Okay... this still doesn’t seem bad enough to upset you so much.”
“The prospect of living forever as long as you’re careful doesn’t bother you?” the priestess frowned, “Most humans would surely be terrified by the thought.”
“Most humans would take that as a sign that they’d been graced by their god and that they were to do as they wished.” Kai pointed out, “I’ve lived with the ability to see into people’s minds since I was eighteen, Amira. Nothing about it really bothers me anymore.”
“Hmm.” Amira drained her cup and poured more, “You may find that your abilities change rapidly. Not the core ability of being able to connect with spirits and people, the other ones.”
“I’ve never had any other abilities. That could make life a bit more interesting.”
“The last thing I need to tell you is that your new colouration and striking beauty is permanent. You will not be able to change it in anyway.”
Kai stared at her.
“Does that bother you?” Amira said.
“I’ve always been an average looking woman. It’s useful to blend into the crowd and not attract attention,” Kai said, slowly, “this could ruin my business. Are you sure that there’s nothing you can do?”
Amira shook her head, “It’s both a function of the curse and a part of the Immortality. You’ve been raised to the status of a demigod essentially; you’ll never be able to remove it or hide it with cosmetics and dye.”
Taking a deep breath, Kai felt the peace that she’d gained earlier dribble away. Panic set in. What the hell am I going to do about this?