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As the sun set, Shun and the two remaining warriors, Lok and Yung, made their way out of the far side of the Mourning Woods and into a low-lying grassy valley. It disturbed Shun that there were so few trees and so little cover, but he put the thought out of his head and pressed forward. The warriors were so shaken from the horrific death of their friend that they decided not to camp that night, knowing full well that sleep would evade them.
Dusk soon turned to darkness, and they found their way only by the faint opalescent light of the shrouded half-moon.
For the better part of the night there was silence, then Lok spoke:
“Shun, my friend,” he said. “I don’t know if we should go any further. It seems danger lurks in every crevice of our once beautiful land.”
“I too am losing my nerve,” Yung said. “I will mourn the loss of my son, Passang, if we never rescue his little soul, but I have two more children at home, and I must return to them.”
Shun gently rubbed the jade dragon that hung around his neck. The amulet had not only bolstered his nerve, but it had calmed his spirit, and as he listened to the words of his friends, his thoughts drifted back to a summer’s day of his youth. Zhi, Bohai’s father, was teaching him and Bohai how to swim. Shun, without hesitation, dove into the cool waters of Lake Atman, but Bohai stood frozen on the shore until Zhi picked him up and tossed him headfirst into the water. Shun remembered how Bohai panicked, thrashing his arms about, sinking then resurfacing over and again, and how Zhi did nothing to help his son save offering only these words: Allow things to move my son, don’t fear or despair, feel the rhythm of the lake and move with it. And having heard his father’s words, Bohai’s fear left him, and his movement became slow and smooth. His hands pushed the waters rhythmically out in front of him and his body lifted.
Shun recalled how it was fear itself that almost killed his friend, and he turned to his men and said, “My friends, when Autumn comes no flower is spared because of its fragrance, no leaf because of its beauty. Death is inevitable, and yes, we may die, but understand this is not just about us. The order of our entire world has been altered and we must return its balance.”
The spirits of Lok and Yung were buoyed by their leader’s courage, and the three pressed on through the night and into mid-day. Then exhausted, they made camp and rested. Shun held watch as Lok and Yung caught some much-needed sleep. Then Lok served as lookout allowing Shun to rest. When they arose, they broke camp and decided to continue their trek till dark, knowing that would take them within a day of the Mogao caves.
When darkness finally fell, Shun saw an outcropping of rocks beyond a cluster of small trees three hundred yards ahead and thought that might be an excellent place to settle down for the night, but before he had a chance to tell his men, he heard, overhead, a loud low drone, then a strong downdraft flatten the tall grass and bent the young saplings. The Vespuli were overhead. The three enormous wasps flew by, sensed movement, spun about in the direction of the warriors, and then stopped abruptly above. Hovering like humming bees, their antennas turning and twitching, they scanned the ground for signs of movement.
"Be still," Shun said. "Remember what Bohai told us. They may be blind, but they still are great hunters. They're like bats. They send out sound waves in a search for movement, and when the sound waves bounce back, they locate their prey and attack."
All three froze in their tracks. Standing in the open field made them horribly vulnerable. Shun's heart pounded in his chest. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and his legs began to tremble. He grabbed the magic jade icon around his neck. It calmed him, but Lok, overcome with fear, panicked and ran. The wasps quickly found him and dove from the sky. Now Shun and Yung had no choice but to run too.
"The rocks,” Shun yelled. "Head for the rocks."
Within seconds the first blind wasp found its prey. It knocked Lok to the ground. Before he had a chance to react, the insect drove its stinger in his gut, injecting him with paralyzing venom. The downed warrior convulsed and foamed at the mouth. A second Vespuli descended from the heavens, took the helpless limp body off in its massive jaws, cut him in half, and disemboweled him.
Shun watched in horror unable to save his friend, but when the third wasp went for Yung, Shun took action. The wasps dove at the fleeing Batu turned its tail toward Yung and slammed its stinger into the earth in an attempt to impale the warrior.
Shun pulled his ax from his belt, ran to the wasp, who was struggling to free itself, leaped upon its back, and planted his weapon in the center of its skull, splitting the head in half. The other two Vespulli, hearing the death cry of their sister, took off in pursuit.
“Run for the rocks," Shun hollered again. "I'll try to take care of the other wasps." He swiped at the insects as they flew by then managed to run to the rocks where he and Yung cowered beneath an overhanging ledge. The remaining two wasps, unable to reach the warriors, and sensing no motion, picked up the body of their fallen sister and flew off.
After the Vespuli had flown off to the west, Shun walked back to where Lok had been killed. The body had been almost wholly devoured; the only parts left were a decapitated head and two severed limbs. Shun carefully placed the remains in a burlap bag.
"This man was brave and true. He deserved better than this. Come, the least we can do is give him a warrior’s burial," Shun said to Yung.
Yung went back to the edge of the forest, where he collected firewood which he piled high and laid the remains of Lok atop the heap. The pyre was lit. As the flames danced high and consumed the rest of their companion, Shun chanted an ancient Batu pray and offered his friends spirit up to the gods
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Where the luster glows
The realm where light divine is set,
Place him Purifier, in that deathless imperishable world.
Make him immortal in that realm
Where movement is accordance to wish, in the third region
The third heaven of heavens
Where the worlds are resplendent
––––––––
The two remaining warriors held vigil until the body of Lok was but ashes, then exhausted, the two friends fell asleep beneath the stone ledge. They awoke at daybreak, but The Mist now was dense and deep and only an obscure outline of the sun could be seen. With heavy hearts, they set out to the west dragging their feet, as if walking through a quagmire, until Shun said, "We must quicken our pace my good friend, we have but a day to reach the Nangling Mountains and meet up with the Chosen Ones. Soon Bohai's elixir will no longer protect us from the toxic effects of The Mist.”
Yung nodded his head in agreement,
__________
Sam, Mack and Lucas, ever vigilant after the giant viper attack, continued their trek northward toward the Nangling Mountains. As they did, the tall grassy valley disappeared, and the countryside morphed into gently rolling hills with precipitous outcroppings of rocks, the color of the land tawny, mostly grays and browns.
"It's getting a bit chilly," Mack said, and in response, Sam took off his coat and handed it her.
"Yeah, and the terrain is getting harder to travel," Sam added.
"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but according to the map, these hills keep getting higher and dryer. It looks like we have to pass through some sort of desert before we get to the mountains where we're supposed to meet up with Shun and his warriors."
As they traveled onward, the landscape changed again: it became flat; a barren, dry, denuded plateau stretched out in all directions. But on the horizon, rising in The Mist, which had taken on a pleasant purple shade in the setting sun, was an outline of mountains.
"There in the distance, I can see them. The mountains," Sam said
"Yeah. That's them for sure. Looks like they're at least another day’s walk,” Lucas responded.
"Well, the sun's going down. Maybe we should camp here for the night,” Mack said.
Lucas scanned the area for firewood; he knew it would turn cold when the sun went down, and there was a stiff northeast wind picking up. "This place is pretty barren. I hate to think we might have tough the night out without a fire," he said. "Wait. Over to the right, about two hundred yards off. It looks like there are a few trees, probably Eucalyptus. They are about the only thing that can survive in this dry climate. Mack and I will check it out. There must be some dead branches we can use. Sam, you start setting up camp.”
As Mack and Lucas walked off, Sam found himself alone for the first time in many days. He peered through The Mist at the mountains beyond. At that moment, despite all he had encountered, The Mist didn't seem sinister or foreboding. It seemed soft and comforting, and it wrapped itself around him like a warm winter blanket, shielding him from the cold. And he heard a faint murmur, a whisper which said. Things are not always as they seem. There is an immovable place, beyond life and death, beyond good and evil, beyond I and thou. That's where I come from. There is much right here, but there is also much wrong. I have been sent to destroy this world so a better one might exist. The words echoed in his head, and he thought he was going mad. Certainly, The Mist was trying to trick him, deter him from his task. Things are what they seem, and you are utterly evil and must die, he said to himself.
When Mack and Lucas returned, dragging a pile of firewood behind them on an old worn blanket, they saw Sam motionless, gazing into the distance.
"What's with him?" Mack asked Lucas. "He looks like he's seen a ghost."
"Hey, what's up, man? You haven't even started to set up camp yet." Lucas said.
"Yeah. That voice freaked me out. Did you guys understand what it said?"
"What voice?" Mack said. "I didn't hear any voice."
"Me either," Lucas added.
"It was The Mist, and he said he was here to destroy this world."
"Well, that sounds about right," Mack added.
"But it wasn't that simple. He implied that things were wrong with the world as it is, and he was clearing the way for a new and better world. That somehow, this was natural. That this was the way it had to be. That it’s always been this way."
"Sounds like you may have been hallucinating a bit my friend. Or maybe that thing crept in your head and is trying to you doubt yourself. Just put it behind you, and let's get the tent up and the fire going. In the morning, you won't remember any of this," Lucas said.
Then Mack went over to Sam, placed her hand gently in his and said, "Yeah Sam. You're just tired. We're all tired. Let's have something to eat and get some sleep." She playfully tussled his hair, kissed him on the cheek and started setting up camp.
"Come on, you nut job," she said to him. "I'm not setting up camp by myself.
Sam snapped out of his pensive mood and walked over to help his friend.
__________
At the end of the following day, The Chosen Ones met up with Shun and Yung outside the Mountains of Nangling. Before them, within the massive cliffs, were the caves of Mogao, no fewer than a hundred in number, any one of which could be holding the souls of the children.
Shun was worse for the wear. Seeing one friend devoured by the Vespuli and another reduced to ashes by the witch challenged his resolve and tested his courage. And while his magic amulet had bolstered his bravery, his faith had faltered, and he feared his daughter would undoubtedly perish. Nevertheless, he was overjoyed to see the Chosen Ones still alive and unharmed and ran to them, embracing each in an enormous bear hug.
Later that night, as they sat by the fire, struggling to see each other through the foreboding shroud, Shun told them of their encounter with the Vespuli and the witch. Mack told how she narrowly avoided being swallowed by the quaking bog and eaten alive by a two-headed viper. The horrific stories further dampened the spirits of all save one. And contrary to what you might expect, of the lot of them, the one who emerged optimistic was Sam, who was sorry for ever having doubted Bohai, and who bolstered the spirits of all with encouraging words and a firm conviction that if they soldiered on they would succeed.
Shun and Yung drank what was left of the snake bile wine given to them by Ju Fu, the Shojo chief, and soon drifted off to sleep, with Lucas, to whom sleep was always a good friend, right behind. Sam, still hungry, stoked the fire and fried a piece of rabbit that Mack had caught in one of her snares traps the day before. Mack, wide awake, just gazed downward and stared into the fire, its glow reflected in her soft blue velvet eyes. There was little conversation, then out of nowhere, Mack just blurted out:
"I hate the way I look. It's so weird. I can't stand seeing myself in the mirror. There's always this fat, ugly thing staring back at me. The other girls at school are so thin. Their hair is long and soft. Their clothes fit perfectly.”
"Where’s that coming from, “Sam said, wondering why, with all that they’d been through, she would suddenly be concerned about her looks. Then he figured it was just her way of getting her mind off what lay ahead, and he played along.
“You know, of course, that's bull crap,” he said. "Forget about the fat thing. I won’t even go there. But ugly. God Mack, ugly. You have the prettiest eyes of any girl at school. I don't know who that girl is staring back at you from those mirrors, but it's not you. You could never be ugly."
"Okay, maybe I'm not that ugly, and I know what everyone thinks. I've heard it all before. I'm too thin. I know. My parents have told me. My doctor has told me. The few friends besides you and Lucas I have, have told me. But they don't see what I see. They're not me. I really don't like myself. You wouldn't understand. Things like that don't bother you. You don't care what you look like. With me, if something is not just the way I think it should be, I get nervous and jumpy. I can't control much, but I can control what I eat. No one can force me to eat if I don't want to. Besides, nothing tastes good to me. Even the sweetest piece of chocolate doesn't taste good. So what's the sense?"
Sam knew not to press the issue. One of the reasons Mack confided in him was because he never pushed the weight thing. Sam finished cooking the rabbit and left it in the frying pan, hoping that after he turned in for the night, Mack might try some.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m turning in,” he said. “Big day tomorrow.”
Mack stayed up long after Sam fell asleep. Still staring at the glowing embers, her thoughts drifted back to Bohai. She understood now why he had taken the form of an old man. She knew that the wisdom he offered would have been hard to swallow if spoken from the mouth of one not much older than herself. Then Mack recalled a story Bohai told her back when he noticed she was not touching her food.
“Once, a hunter of my village was trying to catch a monkey,” he said. “The Hunter set many snares, but as everyone knows, monkeys are exceedingly smart animals, and they easily avoided his traps. Then the hunter came upon an idea. Yes, Monkeys are cunning, he said to himself, but they are often headstrong and stubborn like people. Knowing this, the hunter placed a ripe banana in a glass jar with an opening just big enough for the monkey to slip his hand into. The monkey couldn't resist the delicious treat, so he reached down and grabbed the banana. But then, the monkey found that he couldn’t get his hand out of the bottle and still hold onto the banana. Even though the monkey saw the hunter approaching, the stubborn animal still refused to release the banana, and the hunter simply walked up to the Monkey, placed a sack over its head and captured it.”
"Sometimes, my friend,” Bohai had told her, “when a person holds on too tightly, they can become trapped inside themselves.” At that moment, as she recalled the story, a thought came to her. Maybe I'm not controlling the food at all; maybe it's controlling me. Maybe I should loosen my grip and just let go."
And without consciously thinking of it, she grabbed a fork, reached out, took the cooked meat from the pan and began to eat it. It tasted pleasant on her tongue, and for the first time, in a long time, she didn't go to sleep hungry.
