Her uncles considered her more of an assistant now than a student, so she helped them. Anything to convince Rajiv that she was so content with her life right now that she no longer planned to escape.
There was one new student whom she enjoyed teaching, a seven-year-old mortal named Norjee. She could relate to the boy, since, like her, he’d witnessed death and destruction at a young age. He’d been adopted by his aunt Neona, one of the warrior women of Beyul-La, and her new husband, Zoltan. The family was living here in Tiger Town, since Beyul-La had been destroyed.
According to Neona, Norjee felt responsible for the kidnapping of his dragon friend, Xiao Fang. Since Norjee had inherited the gift of communicating with winged creatures, he and Xiao Fang had become close, calling each other brother. Norjee’s guilt rested heavily on his young shoulders, making him fiercely determined to master martial arts so he could help rescue his friend. Jia assured him that Xiao Fang had looked healthy when she’d seen him two nights ago. Even though she gave Norjee an encouraging smile, inside she also nursed some guilt. Because of her failure to kill Han, the dragon boy was still captive.
Even more reason she had to succeed. She glanced over her shoulder to see if the guards were still at the edge of the courtyard. They were. Since it was now dark, torches had been set up around the perimeter of the courtyard. Parents were congregated in small groups, chatting with each other and watching their children practice. Just as she spotted Norjee’s parents, he landed a roundhouse kick to her hip.
“Oof!” She jumped back, and Norjee grinned at her.
She smiled back. “Show-off. That’s what I get for not paying attention.”
He stiffened suddenly, his grin disappearing as he scanned the sky overhead.
“Norjee? We were talking about paying attention.”
He didn’t seem to hear her. He pivoted, looking frantically about.
“Norjee, what’s wrong?”
“The owl! I hear the owl!” He ran across the courtyard just as an owl swooped down and landed on top of one of the tiger statues that guarded the stairs leading up to the palace.
Jia followed him, and soon his parents joined them.
Neona reached out to softly stroke the bird’s wing. “It’s my mother’s owl. He’s found us.”
“He’s come a long way,” Zoltan said.
The owl cocked his head, concentrating on Norjee.
After a moment, Norjee glanced at his parents. “He says Master Han brought Xiao Fang to Beyul-La last night.”
“What happened?” Neona asked, and her son turned back to the owl.
Jia ran over to her uncles to ask them to stop the class and bring Rajiv and Jin Long. Soon everyone was gathered around the tiger statue, waiting to hear the news.
“The owl is weary from his long journey,” Norjee said. “He has gone without food since last night.”
“I’ll bring him something,” Jia offered and rushed up the stairs to the palace. In the kitchen, she tossed some rice and boiled chicken legs in a wooden bowl, hoping the owl wouldn’t mind his meat cooked. As she ran back, she realized she hadn’t been followed. Her guards had remained with the crowd around Norjee.
“I hope this will be all right.” She set the bowl on a step, and the owl fluttered down to peck at it.
Apparently, Norjee had already related the owl’s story, for some of the men were asking him questions.
“You say Xiao Fang doesn’t know where he is being held?” Jin Long asked.
Norjee shook his head. “He told the owl it was underground, but he didn’t know where.”
“None of the thirty camps that we know about are underground,” Rajiv said. “This must be a new place.”
“I’ll try calling Russell.” Jin Long pulled out a sat phone. “If he still has the same number.”
“Xiao Fang is going to ask the birds nearby to spread the word about him,” Norjee said, his eyes bright with excitement. “When the news reaches here, I’ll be able to tell you where he is!”
“This is wonderful!” Neona hugged her son. “Then we’ll be able to go rescue him.”
“I can go with you, right?” Norjee asked.
Neona exchanged a worried look with her husband, and Zoltan shook his head.
“It would be a battle against Master Han—” Zoltan began.
“But I have to go!” Norjee cried.
While Norjee’s parents tried to dissuade him and Rajiv asked him more questions, the whole scene became loud and chaotic. Villagers were excited about this new way to locate the dragon shifter, but they worried about going to war against Master Han. Jia’s guards were in the midst of it all, arguing with their neighbors and forgetting to watch her.
Slowly she backed away, debating whether she should flee. If she stayed here and the news arrived about Han’s location, the were-tiger men and Vamps would go to fight him. The last time they’d battled Master Han, she hadn’t been allowed to participate. Chances were they still wouldn’t let her fight. No, if she was going kill Han, she’d have to do it on her own. Now.
She ran to her house and changed into her hunting clothes and boots. Her heart racing, she strapped on her knives and slipped on her backpack. She peeked out the front door, half expecting her guards to be there again.
They weren’t! Headed north, she sprinted along the bluff till she found the path that wound down to the riverbank. All she had to do was cross the river in her uncles’ canoe, and she would be on her way to finally completing her mission.
Russell was hidden on a high bluff, watching camp number twelve, when he felt a buzzing in his pocket. The sat phone? It had been two months since he’d last received a call. He pulled it out and whispered, “What?”
“Russell? This is J.L. Something’s come up at Tiger Town. I thought . . .”
His words faded as Russell stiffened with alarm. Had something happened to Jia? Had she escaped? Was she wandering about the forest alone? Or had she attempted to repel down that cliff again and fallen? A vision leaped into his head—Jia lying on the ground with broken bones, blood seeping from her head.
Not my problem, he told himself, but the vision kept replaying in his mind. “I’ll be right there.”
Two seconds later, he materialized in the courtyard of Tiger Town. Immediately, he scanned the noisy crowd, looking for Jia. He spotted her guards, Rajiv, J.L., Zoltan, and Neona. The townspeople were jabbering about birds and the dragon shifter. No mention of Jia. No sight of her, either.
J.L. waved him over, so he strode toward the tiger statues that guarded the stairs to the palace.
“We have news,” J.L. began, motioning to an owl that was eating from a bowl on the stairs. “This is Queen Nima’s owl from Beyul-La. It saw Master Han and Xiao Fang last night. Han was showing the boy how the valley is destroyed and trying to convince him that the warrior women and all the dragons are dead.”
So the news had nothing to do with Jia. Russell didn’t want to acknowledge the relief that swept through him. Instead, he concentrated on what J.L. had just said. “Han is trying hard to gain the boy’s trust. That’s a good sign. It means the boy is resisting.”
Neona grimaced. “It was cruel of Han to tell Xiao Fang that all the other dragons are dead. Thank God the owl was there to tell him the truth.”
“So the dragon shifter can communicate with birds?” Russell asked.
“Yes,” Zoltan replied and motioned to a young boy. “Norjee can, too. He’s the one who gave us the information from the owl.”
“Xiao Fang said he and Han are in a new camp, one that is entirely underground,” J.L. added. “He’s going to ask the nearby birds to spread the news of his location, and hopefully, that news will eventually reach us here.”
A bird grapevine? Russell wasn’t sure it would work. It wasn’t like the birds could relay the latitude and longitude. Their directions might end up somewhat vague in translation. Still, it was worth a shot. “You say Han has gone underground?”
“Yes,” J.L. replied. “No idea where.”
“If we could just find the general area,” Rajiv said, “then my uncles could sniff him out. They can pick up a vampire’s scent from three miles away.”
“I’ll do some eavesdropping,” Russell offered. “Maybe I can figure out the location of this new camp. See you later.” After the others thanked him, he strode back through the crowd.