DRAGONS
A FATHER’S GIFT
THE SHAPING OF STEEL
SELAH
THE BOW
THE BLADE OF MAH LIN
LOTUS AND SWORD
FULL CIRCLE
THE IMPERIAL COURT
THE POX
FATHERS AND SONS
THE GUEST
THE PATTERN IN THE THREADS
DEPARTURE
FROM THE EYE
THE AWAKENING
THE CAPITAL CITY
THE GRAND INNER
EVIL GROWS
THE TASK AT HAND
THE MANTIS KING
A CHALLENGE IN THE SAND
THE FACE OF THE ENEMY
A DARK VISITATION
THE SUNG
URBAN NIGHT
THE MORNING LOOMS
THE POEM OF LI BAI
THE EMPEROR
THE TIME DRAWS NEAR
TWO FAVORS
THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY
THE TRUSTED MINISTER
THE PREY
THE CAVERN’S BOUNTY
DRAGON FIRE
SAGES AND KINGS
THE HORDE APPROACHES
ANSWERS
GATHERING POWER
THE DIE IS CAST
AWAY
THE MEASURE TAKEN
THE HARE AND THE HOUNDS
THE APOCALYPSE
THE VALLEY OF DECISION
SOUTHERN WINDS
THE BEGINNING
EPILOGUE
HISTORICAL NOTE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I soar in effortless circles around the plodding caravan far below me, gently riding the desert winds. It is not the glitter of sunlight on jewels that attracts me, for I do not covet the spoils of war, but crave only my humble share of war’s terrible outcome. The hot rising air is cradled beneath the feathers of my outstretched wings, and carries with it the tantalizing odor of sand and blood. I fly on, driven by primordial hunger and beckoned by the smell of death. Drawn closer now, I am intrigued, for I have found its source.
I can see him clearly. He is chained behind the cart laden with plunder and pulled by great horned oxen. He jerks and stumbles forward at every tug of the cattle’s methodical steps. Blood is the clothing that covers his body. Wounded and tortured, decay did not wait politely for death’s cue, and the flies have already joined the feast.
My spirit knows that this cruelty is the work of men, nature is much more merciful. I can see that the dying captive is mad. He raves with agony and fever at every near fall. Nature mercifully has removed mind from body, so his mind knows nothing of its body’s plight or pain, and by nature’s mercy I sense his journey will soon be over.
But that time has not yet come, and I fly upwards towards the heavens to banish my gloom. As clouds part and early stars move slowly before my eyes, I bite and savor simple concepts, tasting the timeless comfort of universal truths. With pain and blood they are born, they live, create life and take life, and then with blood and pain they leave through Death’s cold gateway. It is Death’s black finger that puts the final punctuation at the end of every man’s life sentence.
It was then that I heard Death laughing, and when he had finished his chuckle he began to speak. “I have heard the delirious ramblings of countless dying minds. I am amused by yours. Heavy philosophy to hapless metaphor, ‘my black finger puts the final punctuation at the end of every man’s life sentence?’ That is very funny given your circumstance. Fly down with me to see the wretch again.” As we flew lower Death continued to speak.
“Many times in many battles I came to take him, but he was elusive and agile. Even though I couldn’t reach him, he did my work well and sent me many. Did you know I have whispered to him every step of his journey and still he will not come? Yet even if he does not die along the way, he knows I wait to embrace him at the executioner’s block. Why does he resist?”
We angled closer to the man as he continued. “I know this unreasonable tenacity is testimony to the power of life and creation, and to feel life’s pulsing strength is a new experience for me, an experience for which I will always be grateful.” We flew closer still, and hovered. The stench was intoxicating. I saw the war prisoner’s wild eyes, and in a heartbeat ravenous euphoria was replaced by terror.
I saw and understood that this smell of what was once a man was me, and in panic I began falling from the sky.
Death steadied me, “Do not be afraid,” he said as I plummeted towards myself. “I came once more to take you, but I am in your debt. You have challenged me, aided me, helped me hear life’s song, and finally you have even made me laugh. ‘My black finger puts the final punctuation at the end of every man’s life sentence,’” and his laughter began all over again.
We had begun the final dive of a bird of prey. There was no turning back. We were very close and flew very fast, faster than the speed of reflex. For me there could and would be no stopping. A wing tip away from impact, he flashed his final words. “No punctuation, Vincent, your life sentence has just begun.”
Instantly my world blazed white. Like the coals of a forge it cooled, sinking steadily through a sea of red and orange. Finally it settled into the black cold depths of the night, from where I emerged and moved as a man once more.
The fever had broken. The heat and redness around the wound still remained, but my arm no longer ached at every passing heartbeat. The blood that had seemed unstoppable had slowed to a trickle and had cleaned the wound as best it could. Dead flesh was gone, and the children of the flies had also vanished. A mind forced away by the body’s anguish has returned to its temple to worship at its altar of bearable suffering once again.
I had survived, I had begun to heal, and I had forgotten everything that Death had said to me.
My downcast eyes had measured both my journey and my life, but not in length or duration, for me time and distance no longer existed. No, they measured simply by what they had seen. They saw my body, wounded, starved, and ill, wither to the bone. They saw rivers turn to ocean, fields turn into forest, and forest turn to sea. They saw seas become mountains, and the mountains turn to desert.
In the desert they saw the sun paint my body with a color it had never worn, the color of the shifting