Evil Wizard Hao: A Lady Jin and One-eyed Nu novel Read online

  Contents

  Title

  Dedication

  Copyright

  Chapter one

  Chapter two

  Chapter three

  Chapter four

  Chapter five

  Chapter six

  Chapter seven

  Chapter eight

  Chapter nine

  Chapter ten

  Chapter eleven

  Chapter twelve

  Chapter thirteen

  Chapter fourteen

  Chapter fifteen

  Chapter sixteen

  Chapter seventeen

  Chapter eighteen

  Chapter nineteen

  Chapter twenty

  Chapter twenty-one

  Chapter twenty-two

  Chapter twenty-three

  Chapter twenty-four

  Things to Come

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  Author's Note

  EVIL WIZARD HAO

  Gary W. Feather

  Dedicated to evil wizards.

  COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:

  Evil Wizard Hao

  All Contents copyright 2016.

  Gary W. Feather

  Published by Interstellar Bushido Publishing.

  All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in the fiction in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts there of, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Author website: www.garywfeatherauthor.com

  Chapter one

  China's Warring States period, 342 BC

  An old man in a yellow robe lit nine candles in the darkness on a mountain. His right hand gripped a staff with a peculiar triangle shaped object on top. Before him sat a five year old girl in a ragged hemp dress. Her eyes were wide like a fawn and she was too afraid to cry. He scratched her hair with long talon-like fingernails then stroked one side of his long mustache.

  "Hear me! Hungry god of the mountain! I bring you an offering! I will feed you this virgin child. Come forth! Come forth! Come forth!"

  The mountain shook and the wind screamed. A ghostly image floated out of the rocks and grew into a shape that was almost human.

  "What? A human dares summon me? Maybe I will eat you both!" The mountain god's voice was loud and deep, like rock scraping against rock.

  "I bring you a virgin child," the wizard said, bravely. He knew that he faced not a god, but an old demon that was once worshipped like a god. "And I promise to bring you another. One for every year."

  "Really?" the mountain god replied. "I once was fed virgin children long ago, but the town's people have turned their back on me. They give animal and plant sacrifices to gentler gods. They have forgotten me. They no longer fear me."

  "They will again. My name is Da. I am a wizard from Zhao. I have come to Chu to find a ruler to serve. None will have me, because I practice the dark arts. So now I wish to use my powers to make my own nation out of Chu, beginning with this city called Cai."

  "Why should I care?"

  "Help me and you shall be the only god worshipped in my nation.”

  “This pleases me," the mountain god said. "You will do this for me. Now I will feed."

  Da laid the staff down and drew a stone knife. He grabbed the child, whose hands and feet were bound. He cut the girl's throat with the stone blade. The blood poured down to the rocks.

  "Yes! Blood! Blood! More!" the mountain demon screamed out and his image came forward and lapped up the blood like a starved cat.

  #

  One-eyed Nu gulped down her mug of wine and dropped the empty mug on the short legged table. She belched.

  "You could try being a lady," Lady Jin said from where she sat by the table.

  "Sorry, mistress," Nu said. "I was thirsty."

  "Well --" Lady Jin noticed her friend, Ya, talking to a group of men. She felt that there might be a problem. They were dressed like Chu soldiers with the symbol of the local city's baron on the jackets of their uniform. One was an older man dressed like an officer and the other was a boy dressed in clean servant clothes who stood beside him, and surrounding them in a half-circle were five spearmen.

  Lady Jin got up and unhooked her sheathed sword from her dress's belt. This way she could quickly yank the sheath off with her left hand while her right hand held the hilt. She walked over to Ya's left side.

  "What's wrong, Ya?"

  Lady Jin noticed that the spearmen lifted their weapons slightly to be ready to fight her. But the widow Ya was on old friend of hers who had invited them into her home; Lady Jin would not repay that hospitality by allowing some bandits to rob the place, even if they were 'the law' in Cai.

  "They want to talk to you," Ya said, angrily. "But I don't trust them."

  "Honorable Lady Jin. We need your help to protect the late Baron Cai Su's son, Cai Kuan." The officer patted the boy's shoulder.

  "Greetings, Lady Jin, I am Baron Cai Kuan. Son of Cai Su. This is one of my father's loyal officers, General Zheng."

  Lady Jin was pleased to be treated with respect. Avoiding a fight was even better than winning. "Greetings to you, honorable Baron Cai Kuan, and to you honorable General Zheng," Lady Jin bowed. "Come in and sit with me and my friend."

  Lady Jin led Cai Kuan and General Zheng to the table where Nu waited. She introduced them to her student, One-eyed Nu. Lady Jin, Baron Cai and General Zheng sat down while four of the soldiers stood behind Cai Kuan and General Zheng. The fifth soldier stayed at the door. Lady Jin told Ya to bring them some wine.

  "Were you one of the seven warriors that protected this town and my father before I was born?" the young baron asked.

  "Yes," Lady Jin, said. Her thoughts drifted for a second, filled with memories of dead friends and blood. "I was as young back then as my student is now."

  "We need your help again, Lady Jin," Cai Kuan said as a mug of wine was set before him by Ya's daughter. "My father is dead. We believe that he has been murdered by a powerful wizard named Da. Uh. Mmmm. Please help us!"

  Lady Jin looked at the boy as he smiled at Ya's daughter as the girl gave him a mug of wine.

  He looked to be in his early teens. He tried to hide it from his men, but she could see his fear. He slowly sipped his wine.

  Zheng was much better at hiding his emotions. He looked to be in his fifties. He had a scar that went from his left ear to his jawline. He had the look of an experienced cavalry officer and he gulped his wine down like an old sergeant would.

  "We'll help you," Lady Jin said. "Now tell me more of this wizard Da."

  #

  Da stood in a locked room with two seventeen year old boys. The old wizard stood with his knees slightly bent and his eyes closed. His hands moved around, shaping and containing a glowing ball of qi.

  It is said that originally there were only three types of qi; Heaven qi, Earth qi and living qi. It was in mountains, rivers, gods, demons, humans and the five domestic animals. All magic comes from qi. Some humans could call on its power to make their body stronger, to move objects, to control the weather, to burn an enemy's body and to steal an enemy's qi. But to control another's mind was a great power. This is what he had learned from the old demon of the mountain.

  Da slid one foot forward and pushed the qi into one of the boys. He pulled a knife out of his robe and held it out to the boy.

  "Take it, Wei," Da commanded. "Kill your brother. Obey me! Obey me!"

  Wei grabbed the knife without hesitation and stabbed his brother in the heart a dozen times.

  "Stop!"

  Wei let his knife han
d fall to his side. His brother slumped to the floor at his feet.

  Da laughed. "I now have the power that will cause all kings to fall before me."

  A single tear fell from Wei's eye, but no more.

  Chapter two

  Lady Jin pulled out some Chu coins from the bag of coins that Cai Kuan had given her. She gave them to Ya.

  "Use this to take care of our horses and gear while we're gone," Lady Jin said.

  "You're sure that you want to work for them?" Ya said and tossed the coins in her hand.

  "We need the money," Lady Jin said.

  "You could find other work," Ya said. "They say that the old wizard is powerful and is hunting what's left of the Cai family. Many people have either joined the wizard's side or fled."

  "I'd like to see how powerful this wizard is," Lady Jin said. "Sometimes rumors are far from the truth."

  Lady Jin joined up with Nu, Cai Kuan and his men outside Ya's house. Cai Kuan and his men escorted the women through the streets of Cai. Many of the people that they passed on the streets looked and turned away.

  To hide their shame or their anger? Lady Jin wondered.

  The party arrived at the Cai mansion.

  A fine place for a rich family, Lady Jin thought. Then her eyes narrowed. Fine except for the dead bodies and the signs of fire! She turned, her gaze sweeping over her surroundings. If they are under siege then where are the attackers? Were they driven off?

  A flash of movement alerted her. "Chu soldiers, beware! Here they come!

  Lady Jin drew her sword as eleven men charged with short spears and small rectangular shields. As they approached, she noted that each wore an emblem that looked like a dark triangle -- a mountain? -- with two yellow eyes.

  She knocked a spear aside, sidestepped to her left and finished with a thrust into the spearman's ribs. She noticed the others were fighting on against the other attackers, as a second spearman came at her.

  General Zheng called out a command for the doors of the wall to open. No one answered. The boy baron stayed beside the general with a sword in a shaking hand.

  A guard looked over the wall for a second and opened the door. More Cai soldiers came out of the gates, so that the boy baron, general, Lady Jin and Nu could get inside.

  Inside an old servant appeared and kowtowed before Cai Kuan.

  "Welcome home, Baron Cai Kuan," the old servant said. "Your mother, the baron dowager, wishes to see you."

  "Good," Cai Kuan said. "I was able to find the swordswomen that we sought. We will come to my mother immediately."

  Lady Jin could hear the fighting going on outside and ached to get back to the fight. She could tell that Nu felt the same.

  "Put your sword away and calm yourself, Nu," Lady Jin said as she sheathed her own. "You shouldn't waste your energy. There'll be more fights to come."

  "Yes, mistress," Nu said, sheepishly.

  #

  They entered a courtyard with white flowers surrounding the edges and saw a building with a large square platform and several servants standing below it. Next appeared nine guards and a number of local government officials and then everyone kowtowed as the baron's mother entered the room, except for Cai Kuan, who simply bowed. He then entered the building and sat beside her on the platform.

  "Come forward, General Zheng Ba, Lady Jin and One-eyed Nu," the baron's mother said with a wave.

  The three of them came forward and kowtowed before the steps. They walked up to the room in front of them. General Zheng walked over the platform where the boy baron sat with his mother. General Zheng sat down beside it on a cushion placed there by a servant.

  Lady Jin was showed to a cushion before the platform by the old servant. She sat and Nu sat beside her on the floor.

  "Bring our guests drinks," the dowager baroness said.

  Lady Jin and One-eyed Nu were given cups of wine. These weren't made of cheap wood like the ones at Ya's home. The cups were made of a fine crafted bronze with artwork showing warriors battling a giant. They thanked their hosts.

  "Hao, come forward," Cai Kuan said.

  A man with horrible scars crisscrossing his face appeared from a tree that he was sitting behind. He crawled and kowtowed like a whipped dog. Lady Jin noticed that one of his arms was misshapen. Possibly broken once and healed poorly, Lady Jin thought.

  "Now what have you learned of the wizard's whereabouts, my ugly old friend?" Cai Kuan said, raising his cup to drink.

  "He has made camp in the eastern side of the city, baron," Hao smiled. He had a mouth full of rotted and missing teeth. "He controls that area quite firmly. More so than the rest of the city. He lives in old Ling Zuo's mansion."

  "Good! You will show these swordswomen where it is," Cai Kuan said. He turned to Lady Jin and One-eyed Nu. "Old Ling was my great uncle. Hao will show you how to get there. He knows secret passages there that only my great uncle and those closest to him knew."

  "But how --?"

  Cai Kuan laughed. "Hao was one of my great uncle's servants -- and lovers."

  Hao nodded his head swiftly and stared at Lady Jin.

  She met his gaze without flinching.

  He turned away.

  "To show our appreciation," the dowager baroness said, "I have had a bathtub prepared for you, Lady Jin, and your pupil, in the bathhouse. Please enjoy it before you leave."

  Lady Jin kowtowed. "Thank you, dowager baroness and you, Baron Cai, for your kind hospitality. It is more than we deserve."

  #

  A servant girl led Lady Jin and Nu outside to the bathhouse. Inside a middle aged woman was putting water into a large wooden bathtub. Lady Jin and Nu laid their swords and knives on the floor. The girl undressed Lady Jin and Nu and picked up a bowl of mashed soap beans. She scrubbed them both and poured water over them.

  "The water is ready, mistresses," the old woman said.

  Lady Jin put a bare foot into the water and gritted her teeth. She quickly plunged the rest of her naked body into the hot water and sat down in the tub. Nu soon joined her. Lady Jin smiled as her apprentice raised up and looked as if she wanted to jump out.

  "The sooner you sit down, Nu --" Lady Jin smacked the sword girl's bare butt. "-- The sooner you'll get used to the heat."

  "Okay, mistress," Nu winced as she sunk back down on her butt. "Why do the people in the south have to bathe so much?"

  "The people in the eastern nations also love to bathe," Lady Jin said. "Get used to it."

  "Is there anything that either of you need, mistresses?" the old woman servant asked them.

  "No," Lady Jin said.

  "This girl will be waiting outside to dry you off when you are finished," the woman servant said. "Just yell for her, mistresses. We call her Little Rat."

  "Thank you," Lady Jin said and the servants left them alone.

  "What do you think of Hao?" Lady Jin inquired.

  "Ugly," Nu said.

  "Don't judge someone by their appearance," Lady Jin said. "A harmless appearance can be a deadly disguise for an assassin. Remember that harmless looking boy in Jing that nearly killed you?"

  "Uh...yes, mistress." Nu's face cringed and she touched the recent scar on her neck.

  Lady Jin could tell that the sixteen year old girl was remembering the knife cut that had nearly severed her jugular vein.

  How many scars has that girl gotten since she became my student? Lady Jin pondered. Oh my goddess. She was thirteen when we met. Trained a little by her father, but inexperienced. I remember finding her crying over her parent's corpses that had been killed by bandits. Has it been that long? Maybe I should have just left her there. She might have been happy as a wife and mother among simple farmers.

  "Hao is a warrior," Lady Jin said. She rolled her left shoulder. There was an ache there. "They probably sent him to kill us."

  "Why would they want us dead?" Nu asked. She massaged her teacher's shoulder and Lady Jin enjoyed the sensation for several minutes.

  "They might worry that we'll turn on them
, if the wizard offers a higher price." Lady Jin cupped some water in her hands and tossed it into Nu's face.

  Nu squealed, for a moment a young girl rather than a seasoned fighter.

  "They might also not want to pay us anymore than have," Lady Jin continued. "Hao might stab us in the back and take the money we were given."

  "Really?"

  "It happens, Nu." Lady Jin stood up. Water poured off her tight athletic body with its numerous scars. "Little Rat! Come here!"

  The servant girl came in and dried the two warriors off. The servant dressed Lady Jin in her green silk dress and then put the yellow hemp dress on Nu. They grabbed their weapons and left the servant girl in the bathhouse.

  Chapter three

  Lady Jin and Nu went to find the young baron and his mother. The baron was now dressed in the long flowing robes of his station rather the traveling disguise that he had worn earlier. They said their polite goodbyes to their benefactors and asked their permission to leave with Hao to the wizard's mansion.

  "Tomorrow morning General Zheng will lead my soldiers against the wizard's troops," Baron Cai Kuan said and waved his blue fan at them. "This will leave the wizard's home poorly defended and will give you your chance to kill him."

  Hao appeared and the three walked out of Baron Cai Kuan's mansion. They journeyed through the city. Cai Kuan's mansion was in the southwest of the city and the wizard was somewhere in the east.

  The city was made like most of them in China with walls around each home, government building, temple, brothel or merchant building. Then there were one or two walls around the whole city with guard towers to watch for invaders.

  Some streetwalkers waved at Hao and called him by name as they passed them.

  "I can show you a good time, sweetheart," one of the girls called out to Nu. "Better than that old ghoul."

  Nu giggled.

  As the three of them got into the eastern section Lady Jin noticed soldiers here and there. What struck her was that they had a picture of a mountain with yellow eyes above it on the front of their uniforms, just like the spearmen that had attacked them earlier. She asked Hao about it.