Jordan stood on the mat beside me, facing a considerably bigger opponent—a teenage boy resembling a bodybuilder. Ashley stared down a guy twice her size. Yet both of their opponents looked more terrified of them somehow.
My curiosity burned. What exactly had the siblings done to make everyone so wary of them?
The flames around me grew hotter. The air sizzled and crackled with an invisible power. My body buzzed with warmth and strength I hadn’t felt in months—not since the Lunar New Year, when I’d channeled the power of the gods themselves to wield the mighty spear Fenghuang.
I had a feeling the gods were gazing down upon us. Watching to see which of the New Order warriors would prove themselves most worthy.
“Bow to your opponent,” Xiong ordered. We obeyed. Angry Eyebrows narrowed her eyes at me as she straightened. I bared my teeth, which probably didn’t look as impressive as I wanted. “Now, fight!”
Before I could blink, a sharp pain split my arm, and I crashed to the ground.
CHAPTER
8
I could count on one hand the number of times someone had brought me down in combat so quickly. And all of them had involved Ye Ye or Ba training me.
So when the New Order warrior brought me down to the mat before I could even strike, I was so stunned, so paralyzed with disbelief and pain, I couldn’t move. For a moment, I thought I’d already lost.
But then I pictured Ye Ye and Ba. How they’d shout for me to get up and try again. To never, ever give up. I imagined them both beside me, urging me to stay strong.
Warmth flowed from the handle of the sword into my fingertips.
Alex, too. If my brother were here, he’d be shouting at me. Snap out of it, he’d say. This isn’t over. Angry Eyebrows got you. So what? You’ll just have to get her back.
Alex would never forgive me if I let anyone defeat me—anyone but him, that is. Ren wouldn’t forgive me if I went down like this, either. So I couldn’t give up the fight. The sword handle grew even warmer, as though encouraging me. Giving me strength.
The air above me swished as Angry Eyebrows’s blade arced down toward me, but I raised Jinyu’s jiàn to parry the blow. Striking while her opponent was down? This girl was vicious. Maybe she’d stolen the eyebrows and personality right off an evil cartoon character.
I leapt to my feet, senses tingling, sword clutched in my hand and raised before me. The sword fit better in my grip now, as though it had finally gotten used to its new master. Every atom of my body buzzed with energy. This was it. The feeling I lived for. The adrenaline of a fight with a strong opponent.
As if answering the call of my blood, the purple flames around me danced higher. Angry Eyebrows’s blue flames grew, too.
I lunged forward, forcing Angry Eyebrows to parry my blow with her sword. Frustration flashed through her black eyes when she failed to deflect my blade like she’d wanted. I’d thrown the full force of my weight behind my attack, but that still wasn’t enough to bring her down. I had to search for some kind of weakness.
Always watch your opponent’s eyes, Ye Ye had told me.
I couldn’t lose this battle. If I did—if this girl went on the quest instead of me—we were doomed.
“Go, Faryn!” That was Ah Qiao’s voice, cheering me on. “Jiā yóu!”
I forced Angry Eyebrows backward. I watched her eyes, which reflected purple flame—and for just a moment, they darted down to her right ankle as she clenched her teeth.
That moment was more than enough. I released my weight. Angry Eyebrows dove forward, slashing her sword through the air. I ducked under her blade like a limbo champ and kicked her right leg. She screamed and lost her balance, toppling beside me on the mat.
I didn’t give Angry Eyebrows the chance to recover before pinning her body to the ground with my left arm and bringing Jinyu’s sword to her throat. The flames around us simply disappeared.
Angry Eyebrows scowled, but the defeat was evident in her eyes. The duel was over. I’d won.
She raised her hands above her head in surrender. “Okay, okay. You win already, jeez. Get off me!”
I sighed in relief and stood up. Angry Eyebrows’s mother and father swept her away, glaring at me before leading their daughter out of the training room.
“You’re much better off staying here,” I whispered. Most of the other warriors had finished their first round of fights as well. Only half remained engulfed in blue flame on the mats, circling each other with fast attacks. The defeated warriors had already left, some hobbling in their friends’ and parents’ arms, moaning in pain.
Even though they were facing older teenagers, Ashley and Jordan were in a class of their own—Jordan especially. He won his round soon after I did and then proceeded to put himself in charge of the Ashley Cheer Squad.
“Left jab, Ashley! Make him weep for his mama!” Jordan shouted, miming the movement himself. “No, your other left!”
Ashley’s blade twirled through the air. She held her own against her tall, burly opponent. The guy wasn’t too shabby, either. I winced as he aimed a quick kick to her unguarded knee. She landed hard on her side and didn’t move. The flames shrank around her small frame. The boy walked toward her with his sword held up high, his blue flames billowing about him, as though they knew he was seconds away from achieving his victory.
“Ashley!” Jordan screamed. But there was nothing he or anyone else could do. Ashley’s opponent swung down.
I turned away. I didn’t need to see what happened next.
“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!”
A deep, rumbling noise ripped through the training grounds. Several warriors screamed. I held Jinyu’s sword at the ready, prepared to face whatever demon was attacking the New Order.
Only it wasn’t a demon. It was Ashley. Or … sort of Ashley.
She hovered a foot off the ground, arms and legs spread out. Her hair had lengthened until it reached past her toes, almost to the floor. Her face was longer and slimmer, making her look older—closer to sixteen or seventeen rather than her actual twelve years. The scariest part was the blue flames that danced in her eyes.
“D-demon,” Mr. Wan gasped. “She’s a demon!”
“The girl’s been possessed,” Mrs. Li yelled hysterically.
“Not again,” Jordan moaned.
Before I could ask what he meant, one of the Elders ordered, “Call off the Duels now!”
“I knew we shouldn’t have let those two into the ceremony!” shouted Mr. Wan.
Xiong didn’t make any move to call off the Ninety-Sixth Duels. The slight part of his lips was the only indication that he was at all shocked by what was happening. Nobody moved to help Ashley’s opponent, who’d fallen over, as she advanced on him.
Ashley lashed out so swiftly, my eyes could hardly follow the movement. She stood over the boy one moment and then had backed away the next. He lay unconscious on the mat. His flames disappeared, but the flames surrounding Ashley burned brighter.
“Stop, demon!” someone yelled.
I startled. I recognized that voice. Ba. My father drew his sword and pushed through the crowd toward me. My heart lifted. Even though Ba had no recollection of his daughter, was he still rushing to protect me, like he had the day we’d arrived?
Chaos ensued. As though inspired by Ba’s angry yell, several of the men charged forward like angry bulls, without any rhyme or reason to their formation.