The Eight were truly terrifying because they were a potential outcome. They were the dark shadow we saw in the mirror, the reflection that became the monster. They were what we could have become if we were not careful.
***
Ten Years Ago
***
Wulan entered the building, relishing the warmth of the braziers that heated the Hall of Words. She stayed closer to the edge, careful not to disturb the lesson.
There, on the other end of the hall, a motley collection of boys sat on old, faded cushions, and Hanshen paced in front of them, his words inaudible. Wulan quietly walked closer to the group, stepping past some of Hanshen's old calligraphy. Verses of the Luminous Doctrines here, some poems artistically rendered so that the words were pleasing to both the eye and ear over there. Wulan stopped a good distance from them, listening.
"...and please, Po Shun, can you tell me what one does when one is wounded, and they are recovering," Hanshen asked in Ten-Zuani.
Her younger brother stroked his chin thoughtfully, eliciting a giggle from some of his other classmates. "Um...er... eel?" he answered in the Common tongue
Hanshen shook his head. "That's the animal. Heal is the word."
"I thought that was part of your foot," Po Shun said.
"They sound the same. But they're spelled differently," Hanshen said. He was quiet as others began to write down the word. "Now, Laidu, what's the word that means to repair something."
The dragon Changed closed his eyes. He was an odd one, sitting right next to Wulan's brother. He looked twelve or thirteen, the age of her brother. But he was tall. Taller than her brother, almost taller than her. "Um...is it fix?" he answered. But that odd accent came through. And Laidu was the only one to have it.
"Yes." Hanshen had long given up on trying to correct that horrendous accent of his. Laidu smiled, and wrote something down on his note scroll. He had claws, but they were barely noticeable, and they didn't seem to impede on his writing skills. He almost seemed to draw the characters out, instead of scrawling them like her brother. "Now, Kaixan," he said to another student, "how would you say the word that means the produce of a chicken?"
"Leg." Kaixen was nice enough, Wulan knew. His brother had tried to court her when they were younger, but Wulan didn't appreciate him, but she also didn't want her mother to flip out and attack the poor kid out of some suspected offense. There had been something about the older brother that had bothered her. Of course, Kaixen was fine enough.
"No, it's egg," Hanshen corrected.
"Um, I'm pretty sure it's leg. We kill a chicken and eat its leg."
"Well, yes, we do," Hanshen said, "but we can eat eggs as well. Chickens have legs. They produce eggs."
Wulan smiled. She had a fluent grasp of the Common tongue, as her teachers had said. But that had come with years of study and work. When she went down to the towns below, she could hold conversations with foreigners. Of course, some words were still foreign to her. But, seeing as many of her conversation partners were sailors, Wulan had the suspicion that most of the foreign words were curses.
Hanshen sighed, and went through everyone else, making sure that everyone could define at least one Common word. Anxious, the boys started fidgeting.
Finally, Zunlai, the last boy, answered that the little four-legged creature that jumped was called a frog, not a crog. "Alright, the rest of you, I can see it in your eyes. Go! Leave! Just be here at the same time tomorrow."
The students rose, and Po Shun grabbed Laidu's wrist, pulling him towards Laidu through the crowd. "Hey, I had this idea," Po Shun said.
"Does it involve raiding the kitchens again?" Wulan asked with a smile.
"Of course!" Po Shun said. Laidu gave a halfhearted smile.
"Is something wrong, Laidu?" Wulan asked.
He shook his head. "No, nothing is wrong," he said. Wulan knew that was a lie. "Anyway, Po, what was your plan?"
"Um...we smoke out the kitchen, and I go in and steal some food?"
"No need," Wulan said. "The Enlightened father was just at our home. And he brought food. A lot of food."
"Oh," Po Shun said. "Well, what are we doing now?"
"I am grabbing a few books," Wulan said, "and then taking you to home. Both of you." Po Shun smiled at Laidu. Right. He didn't know.
"Wait, you're taking me home?" Laidu asked. "I can just walk."
"No," Po Shun said, "you're coming with us. You're staying over at our house for tonight!" Immediately, Laidu's expression brightened.
"Come on, you two," Wulan said. She marched them out the door, into the bitter cold. Immediately, Pu Shun moved right next to Laidu. "What are you doing?" she asked as Laidu began to rub Po Shun's cloak between his hands, the veins in his fingers glowing.
"He's warm," Po Shun said. "Warms up my cloak so it's not freezing." Wulan rolled her eyes, and Laidu shrugged.
Wulan entered the building, leaving the two boys outside. The inside of the library, like the Hall of Words, was warm, but this had the musty scent of old papyrus, parchment scrolls from the Kaipheri provinces, and strangely bound codices from the Albic lands.
She grabbed a work of philosophy and settled down next to a window, adjusting the cloak to make a nice pillow. Idly, she looked out the window. Po Shun and Laidu sat by a tree, wrapped up in their cloaks. A few of the other kids, led by Kaixen, moved up to Po Shun. "Hey," Kaixen said. "We were going to go down to the caves. Want to come?"
Po Shun shrugged. "Sure. Come on Laidu," he said. "Kaixen's a friend."
"Oh, uh," Kaixen said. "Just you." Wulan glared at him through the window, but he didn't notice. That little piece of... sheike! Well, she didn't know what that last word meant, but it was used by the Valstoldt sailors, and she was pretty sure it was vulgar.
"Why not Laidu?" Po Shun asked. Laidu's face was blank, but his eyes had a mix of sadness and rage. Po Shun, however, wore his anger and indignation on his face.
"Well, um...why would you?" Kaixen asked. "He is a monster, after all." He rolled his eyes. "Are you with us?"
Po Shun rolled his eyes. "Come on, Laidu," he said, grabbing his Changed friend's hand, pulling him past his former friend. "Let's get out of here."
"Wait," Laidu said. He walked over to the tree, past Kaixen and his little group of snot-nosed kids, and snapped off a few branches. Kaixen stared at him, confused. Laidu gathered about ten, and stuffed all but one in his tunic and walked back to Po Shun. And then, in full view of the other kids, he did his freaky thing.
He held the stick between both palms, and, still walking back to his friend, he burned it. Wulan had only seen him do it once or twice. The veins in his hands lit up so that his skin looked like blazing metal, and the stick burst into flame. All the other kids backed up, muttering, and Wulan couldn't make out their words. But she knew that look. It was a look of fear.
Laidu walked over to Po Shun and dropped the ashes of the first stick, and pulled the second one out. He sat down and burned that one. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. Wulan grabbed her scroll, signed it out in a hurry, and walked out.
Laidu had just finished burning the last stick. He paused, let his hands fade to normal, and then rose from the stone he was on. Without warning, he slammed into Po Shun, wrapping his arms around the boy, eyes closed, looking ...relieved. "Thank you," he said quietly. "Thank you."
"For what?" Po Shun asked, though he returned the embrace.
Laidu stepped back. "You don't know?" he asked. "You could have gone with him and just left me alone. You were friends with him before. But you chose me over him. Over them."
Po Shun shook his head. "No." He looked over in Kaixen's direction. "I knew them. I played with them a few times." He poked Laidu in the chest. "You're my friend." He smiled. "Now, what do you want to do? Want to go follow them and see if we can't make them-" he said, but was silenced as Laidu's belly made some obnoxiously loud and unholy sound. "Well, I guess we could eat."
Wulan chuckled. "Come on," she said. "We have food at home." She put her arm around her brother and Laidu and walked them off, away from the library, down towards her home. Po Shun's home.
***
Wulan and Po Shun's home spread out, covering several rooms. Many thought that the monks lived simple, ascetic lives. Some did, but Wulan disliked the word monk. Theologian was a better term. Po Shun and Laidu rushed past Wulan and dashed in the door. Wulan rolled her eyes and walked in after them. Light was fading, and the dying sun dipped down over another mountain.
The smell of food assaulted Wulan, and when she turned, she saw Dai Lan and Janyin standing in the kitchen, talking to her mother. Father was probably asleep, or nursing a migraine. "You sure you have enough?" Dai Lan asked.
"I'm sure, I'm sure," Suyin said. "I've fed two teens. I think I can manage three."
Janyin sighed. "There's the problem. Laidu eats about four times what he should."
"Right," she said. "Which is why I made saama. A lot of it." Saama? They were in for a treat tonight!
"And the rest of the dishes?" Dai Lan asked.
"Of course! Rice, noodles, the whole course," Suyin said.
"Okay," Dai Lan said. He smiled at Wulan as he passed, leaving the two mothers alone. "You take care of the two of them, alright?" he said with a smile. "I don't want them in any trouble."
Wulan chuckled. "I'll do my best, sir, but you know my brother."
Dai Lan nodded. "He's a rascal and an idiot." He shrugged as he walked out the house. "He's the perfect friend for my son." Wulan smiled. That much was true.
There was a thump from Wulan's room. And Po Shun's room, technically. Wulan shared it with her brother, and there were specific rules. Very specific. Wulan would beat him with whatever she had at hand if he Crossed the Line.
The Line ran down the middle of the room, separating Wulan's half and Po Shun's half. That was the Rule. No one crossed the Line. If Wulan found one of his toys, or Po Shun found one of her books, the other sibling would pay. Oh, how they would pay.
And, squarely on Po Shun's side, her brother was splayed on the ground, Laidu sitting on his back, arms folded, a smug expression on his face. "I told you I'd win," he said to Po Shun.
"What was that sound?" Wulan asked.
"Oh, um," Po Shun began. "I, uh, I challenged Laidu to a wrestling match. After shoving him against a wall."
"And I sat on him," Laidu said. "When are we eating?"
"Laidu! Po!" Suyin called. "Get yourselves a bath! I want you clean for dinner!"
Laidu hopped up, and helped his friend up. "Okay, can you show me your bathing room?"
Wulan nodded and took him into a smaller room, this one with a door leading outside. A tin bathtub sat on the ground, with a small grate on one end of the ceramic tile floor. "Just grab some snow from outside, shovel it in, and you can light a fire over here," she said, indicating a second fireplace, "to melt it."
"No need," Laidu said. "I can melt it on my own." Right. "Where's the soap?"
"Oh, um, right here," she said, fetching it out of a small cupboard, next to a chamber pot. "Here." She handed him the soap. "And just undo the seal here, and then it drains well enough. Alright?"
Laidu nodded. "Okay. I'll see you at dinner, then."
***
The dinner was laid out on a low table in the main room as Wulan finished dressing. She stepped out of the bathroom, drying out her hair, before stopping, utterly entranced by the smells.
Laidu and Po Shun sat on cushions around the low table, talking. Po Shun's cheeks were nice and red, scrubbed clean of all dirt. Laidu's gold and red scales glistened like tiny chips of glass. He laughed at a joke Po Shun had said.
Next to him, Jian, her father, sat, waiting for her, his arm around Suyin. Wulan sighed, tossed the towel aside, and sat down on the cushion between her brother and her mother.
She stared at the table. "Um, mother, I think you made a bit too much food," Wulan said. The saama was there in a brightly colored bowl, along with the sweet kamachi bread. And the traditional noodles, steamed vegetables, rice, and strips of meat soaked in sweet sauces. A lot of food. It would be enough to feed a family of ten, not a family of four and one guest.
"That's not what Janyin said," her mother said. "Now, shall we pray?" she asked. Wulan grabbed her hand, and her brother's hand. Her father grabbed Laidu's hand, and Laidu clasped hands with Po Shun. "Thank you for this food, and for all those gathered around the table. Protect us, and be with us, from today to our last day, and to the days spent with the Light. In truth we walk."
"In truth we walk."
They broke hands, and Laidu was the first to move. He grabbed a bowl of rice and vegetables, and set it on his plate. Everyone began to grab food, and Po Shun scooped some of the saama, a mixture of thin, hairlike noodles, spiced meat, and thicker, almost ribbonlike pasta, on a loaf of bread and handed it to Laidu. "Try these," he said.
Laidu nodded, and tore a chunk of the bread, laden with the delicious meat, and popped it in her mouth. "Mm. Good." He grabbed the rest of the flat loaf and shoved it in his mouth. And then he went for the noodles. He had his banshi, two stick utensils, in his hand, and seemed to shovel the food in.
He emptied the first bowl of noodles and reached for another one. Wulan took a bite of one of the meat strip. Laidu took about fifteen seconds to shovel the noodles in, and didn't even seem to chew. He swallowed the entire bowl of noodles in one gulp.
"So, Laidu, Suyin said, "do you like any of your lessons?"
Laidu looked up from the third bowl of noodles, eyes wide, a trail of pasta hanging out of his mouth, half the bowl already down his gullet. He slurped up the noodles, eliciting a giggle from his friend. "Um. Yeah. The language one," he said, while reaching for a plain bread roll.
"Oh, nice," Suyin said. Laidu smiled, calmly buttered the roll, and shoved the entire thing in his mouth. "Why are you eating so... ravenously?"
"I'm hungry." Laidu shrugged and reached for another roll. He buttered this, used his banshi to grab three or four strips of meat. "Is this yak?" he asked.
"Yes," Suyin said. "You like it? I made it myself."
Laidu nodded, and saw another plate with the meat. So, instead, he grabbed the first plate and shoveled several of the strips onto his plate, the dark sweet sauce staining the white rice mound. Then, he shoveled some of that into his mouth with a spoon. Po Shun was busy telling his mother about what happened with Kaixen.
Jian stared at Laidu, stunned at something. "What?" Laidu asked, rolling his eyes. "You want to see more of my scales? Want me to take my shirt off so you can see if it's all scaly too?" he said, his voiced laced with threads of acidic anger.
Jian was taken aback, and the little conversation Po Shun was having instantly silenced. "They did that to you?" Jian asked. Laidu nodded. "No, I wasn't looking at the scales."
"Oh. Sorry," Laidu said. "Why were you staring at me, though?"
"I was just wondering where you're putting all that food. You're thin. You're way too thin for what you eat."
"Oh. I don't know," Laidu said, before shoveling some of the rice into his mouth. He ate some more, now slightly slower, but with the same gusto as before.
Wulan watched, eating politely, and was stunned by the ferocity of the dragon Changed's appetite. He had devoured half the food on the table, and still, he was reaching for more. She was full. "May I be excused?" she asked. "I have a scroll I need to read." Her mother nodded, and Wulan rose.
She went into her room, shut the door, and changed. Her heavy robes fell off. Instead, a sleeveless tunic and loose pants. She then sat down on her bed, pulling the scroll out from where she had put it earlier. Leaning against the wall, she opened the scroll and began to read.
She was a good ways into the piece when her brother and Laidu burst in the room. "So, um, where am I sleeping again?"
Po Shun pulled out a thin straw mattress from under his bed. "Is that good?" he asked.
Laidu nodded. "Mhm." He paused. "I'm changing into my nightclothes. You mind looking away?" Po Shun turned around, and Wulan shifted so she couldn't see Laidu, and returned to the text. After a few sounds of shuffling cloth, Laidu spoke. "Okay. You can look now."
Laidu was wearing a pair of loose pants, and in the candlelight, the scales on his chest shimmered like tiny mirrors. He was nothing special to look at, really, once you got past the scales. Sure, he might have had some more meat and muscle on his bones rather than Po Shun, but he wasn't crazy looking. Laidu sat down on his bed.
Po Shun stepped back in the room, dressed in similar pajamas. "I'm going to bed," Laidu said, yanking a blanket over himself, leaning against the pillow.
Wulan shrugged. "Good night," she said. Po Shun had settled down. She moved over to the candles on her bed, and blew them out.
***
Wulan's eyes opened.
The door was slightly open, and everything was silent. Well, almost everything. There was a crackling fireplace, and the even breathing of her brother. But not Laidu.
Wulan slid out of her bed, her loose pants and sleeveless tunic soft against her skin. Her bare feet barely made a sound as she padded across the room.
She saw a small figure sitting, illuminated by the fireplace, his golden scales reflecting off the flickering illumination. He sat there, knees tucked in, staring off into the flames.
"You mind if I sit here?" Wulan asked, walking closer to Laidu. Laidu didn't even look at her. He just shrugged. Wulan sat down next to her friend. "You alright?" Laidu didn't answer her with words. He just shook his head.
"You homesick?" she asked. He shook his head. No, not homesick then. "You want to talk about it?" she asked. Laidu shook his head again. Another nope. "Okay." She put her arm around the kid's shoulders.
Laidu flinched. "Is something wrong?" Wulan asked, taking her arm back.
"No," the boy said. "I...I'm just not used to people besides my parents putting their arms around me." He shrugged. "You can put it there. I...kinda liked it." Wulan smiled, then wrapped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her. He put his arm around her waist. "Is...is that okay?" he asked.
Wulan nodded. "Yeah." Laidu sighed, and leaned against her shoulder, still staring at the fire. She sat there, her hand idly rubbing Laidu's shoulder. She wasn't trying to prod or provoke him. He was hurting, and she was going to be there for him.
"I had a nightmare," Laidu said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Laidu said, still staring at the flames. "I mean, it sounds silly."
Wulan sighed. "It's not. There's a reason for it," she said. "Tell it to me. If you don't mind."
Laidu nodded. "Thanks," he said. "Thanks for not scoffing at me."
Wulan didn't think about what came next. She just did. She grabbed Laidu and gave him a hug. A tight one. "Don't be silly," she said. "I'm a friend. That's what friends are for." Then, she leaned down, and gave him a gentle, almost motherly kiss on the forehead.
"You..." Laidu began, eyes wide. "Why would you do that?" he asked.
"Because I like you," Wulan said. "You're a friend. And you're hurt."
Laidu's shoulder's slumped. "I...never had someone deal with me like that. Only my mother ever kissed me." He hugged Wulan again. And then, in a quiet, weak voice, he told her about his nightmare.
When he finished, Wulan stopped. "Laidu?"
"Yes?"
"I think you should tell Po Shun about it."
"What?" Laidu rolled his eyes. "He'd laugh at me. He'd think it's stupid."
"No he wouldn't."
"Yes he would."
"Please," Wulan said. "He's my brother. I know him."
Laidu nodded. "Fine," he said.
Wulan rose, and stepped back into her room. She moved over to her sleeping brother, every creak she made -any sound that could wake her parents up- seeming like it was shouted. "Po!" she hissed, shaking him.
"What?" he asked groggily. "What do you want? Where's Laidu?"
"Laidu needs you."
Po Shun's eyes widened. "What's wrong?"
"He needs you to hear something. Come on." Wulan turned, walking out of the room, and Po Shun followed, wiping away the sleep from his eyes. She sat next to Laidu, and Po Shun sat, cross-legged, right next to his friend. "Laidu," she said. Can you tell him?"
Laidu nodded. "Po Shun, promise you won't laugh."
"Unless you make a joke," Po Shun said.
"Yes. Unless I make a joke." Laidu smiled slightly, but then that same grave expression appeared back on his face. "I've been having nightmares."
"Oh," Po Shun said, attentive. "What happens? Are they just generic nightmares? Or is it one that just keeps repeating?"
"Just one." Laidu said. "It starts the same. I can see my hands, my bare feet. And they're normal. They're human."
"And?"
"There's this girl. She must be eight or nine. And I am too. I'm just a little kid." He paused, and every breath he took caused the lurid firelight shadows to shift around the contours of his chest. "We're in a forest, and we're playing a game. Sometimes it's hide and seek. Other times, it's tag. She's laughing. And she had this wonderful laugh, the kind that made you feel warm and happy."
"I almost caught up with her. I jumped over a rock, and I slipped. There was this hole, and I tumbled down it, covering myself in mud. I got up, and I moved through the dark, terrified, hurt, and scared. I felt through the darkness."
"I got to this light area, and I crawled out. I was blinded by the light. My shirt was in tatters, and I was filthy. The girl found me, and she looked at me, and screamed."
Laidu's voice lowered. "She called me a monster. She ran away, and when I looked at my hands, I saw... this." He held up his own hands. "She was right."
"No, she wasn't," Po Shun said. "Don't say things like that." He put his arm around Laidu. "You're not a monster. You're a wonderful friend."
"Yeah," Laidu said, though he didn't seem to believe it.
"Hey," Po Shun said. "Can I pray for you?" Laidu looked at him, then shrugged. "Okay."Po Shun didn't just bowed his head. Instead, he leaned towards Laidu, and the two kids touched foreheads. Wulan joined in, placing her hands on Laidu's shoulders.
"God," Po Shun began, eyes closed, "thank you for Laidu. Thank you for giving him to his parents. Thank you for giving him to me. Thank you for my best friend. For my only real friend."
Laidu's eyes opened. "Really?" he whispered, but Po Shun continued.
"Thank you for giving him to me, thank you for giving him to us now, so we can help him. Please, protect him from these nightmares, let him sleep well. Please. You have given him a friend, a family. You've given me a close friend. Please, help him."
Po Shun opened his eyes, but Laidu moved first. He wrapped his friend up in a hug, and Wulan saw more tears flow from his eyes. "You meant that?" he asked.
"Of course," Po Shun said. "Come on. Let's go to bed, the fire's dying down." He separated out of the embrace, and gently lifted his friend up. Wulan followed from the dying light of the room to enter their dark bedroom.
Laidu sat down on his bed, then shuddered. "This is going to sound weird," he said, "but don't leave me. Can you guys stay with me?"
Po Shun nodded. "Sure. But if we're going to do that, we're doing it right. Get up." Laidu rose, and moved over to Wulan. "Wu," her brother said, "help me get this mattress up," he said, lifting up his end of the mattress. Wulan walked over and curled her hands around the mattress., feeling the straw shift inside. What was he planning?
It soon became apparent. He flipped the mattress out of his bedframe and plopped it right next to Laidu. "Here. This is a bit better," he said, flopping down right next to his friend. "Is that better?"
"Um," Laidu said, a bit apprehensive. "Yeah, I guess." He sat down. "Thanks for doing this for me." Wulan sat down on the other side. She was his friend too. She put an arm around his shoulders.
Po Shun sighed. "There is one problem, though." He frowned at his friend. "If you toss and turn in your sleep, I don't want to lose an eye. Your horns are cool, but they're sharp." Po Shun marched over to his clothing drawer, and yanked a few things out. "Here. Put these on," he said, tossing a bunch of socks at Laidu. "You poked me when you hugged me," he explained.
"Sorry."
"It's fine."
Laidu went to his feet, but Po Shun chuckled. "No, not on your feet. On your horns." Laidu stopped, and then began to stuff one of Po Shun's thick woolen socks over the white growths.
His horns sheathed, Laidu laid back, and Wulan settled next to him. He was warm. Almost feverish, it seemed. Wulan could feel the ambient heat radiate off his body as he sat there, wrapped up in a blanket with all three of them. "Thanks," Laidu said. "I feel blessed to have you as friends."
Wulan didn't say anything. She simply sidled closer to the Changed boy, hugging him. She felt Po Shun's arms brush against her as he embraced his friend. She leaned against his shoulder. "Laidu," Po Shun said, "I love you. Like you're a brother to me."
Laidu shifted. "Really? Me?"
"Of course!" Po Shun said. "No. You're not like a brother." He sat up on his stretch of the mattress. "You are my brother at this point."
There was a small sniffling sound coming from Laidu. It took Wulan only a moment to realize he was crying.
"Why are you crying?" Po Shun asked, lying back down
"I..." Laidu began, before he had to take a few deep breaths. "I never had a brother before. I...thank you." He wrapped his arm around Po Shun, crushing his friend in a death grip of a hug. "I love you, Po Shun. You..." His voice faltered. "You're...I'm proud to have you call me brother."
He put his arms around both of them. "You too, Wulan. I'm proud to have you as a sister."
"Thanks," Wulan said. "Now, go to sleep. And remember, we're family. If you ever need to stay at our place, go ahead."
"But," Po Shun said, "that means we'll have to be staying over with you."
"Of course," Laidu said. "Any time."
Wulan smiled, and the three of them slowly drifted off to sleep.