May the Gods Have Mercy

Quicker than thought, his hand slipped inside his robe and snatched out a string of beads.

Susu cried out inarticulately in agony as his lips started to move, silently chanting a prayer. She almost fell back; as she struggled to keep her ground, Xuxian saw a red glint suffuse her black eyes, taking over the whites, until even the blackness seemed to hold flames. A faint mist seemed to be shrouding her body, and it was getting harder and harder to make out the outline of her form.

"You forced me to this, monk!" she cried, arching her head back, and Xuxian gasped. In one fluid motion the mist seemed to converge and he saw the ripple of gleaming white scales as she transformed.

Fahai's lips faltered as the huge white snake loomed before him, but he continued chanting steadily. He had not expected her to be this powerful, even with her weakened aura. But the monk had often stared death in the face, and he was not shaken.

The snake's head darted forward with a flash of its fangs. Letting go of the beads, the monk swung his staff just in time to block the blow it was aiming at his head. Undaunted, the snake struck again, its white body roiling over the rocks rapidly as Fahai leaped nimbly through its coils, landing blows wherever he could.

Xuxian stared in fascinated shock at the mighty beast. He had thought it was frightening enough, his first glimpse of the giant snake curled limply on the floor; it seemed endless, enormous. Now, however, he could only gape at the strength and power of it in action. With any one of the blows it flung at the monk, it could have easily killed him.

Had he really held it in his arms? Stroked its hair. Fed it porridge. A sudden dizziness gripped him and he stumbled backwards, clutching at a tree for support. So this was Susu, in her snake form. This was what Qingqing had meant when she told him so bitterly that he did not know how powerful Suzhen was.

He watched dumbly, the sounds fading away in his ears, as they fought, his dazed eyes unable to keep up with their blows and the speed with which they moved.

As if in a dream, he saw the snake fall back as Fahai's staff struck it squarely across its head. He saw it writhe, and how, even though it roused itself to retaliate, it was moving more and more slowly and clumsily. He saw the monk, dripping with sweat yet with an unnatural calmness in his eyes, raining blow after blow on it, leaping nimbly aside as the snake tried to strike back.

"No," Xuxian gasped. He started forward as the snake's head crashed to the ground, scattering soil and pebbles, and Fahai sprang upwards for a last blow.

Xuxian broke into a run. He lunged forward blindly and flung himself in front of the snake.

Fahai's staff fell abruptly as he saw Xuxian rush between them. He landed on the ground and saw Xuxian with arms outstretched before him, white, desperate face upturned.

Breathing heavily, he raised the staff in a warning gesture. "Physician Xu. Move aside!"

"I can't let you hurt her," Xuxian panted. "Please, holy man. Spare her. I beg you!"

Fahai's lip curled. "You are blinded by love, and by her wiles. Today, regardless of what happens, I must part the two of you. It is for your own good. One day in the future, you will thank me."

The end of the staff prodded into Xuxian's chest. "Now move. I do not want to hurt you, but you know you cannot shield her from me."

The snake's sides heaved. Xuxian stumbled backwards, shaking his head. "I can't let you kill her," he repeated, tears running down his cheeks. "Have mercy!"

A muscle in Fahai's cheek twitched as he saw the snake's head move. Instantly he grabbed Xuxian by the arm and snatched him forward just as the snake reared itself up, hissing. Bai Suzhen was making a last desperate stand. She rose to her full height, ready to strike.

Flinging Xuxian aside, Fahai hurled a powerful bolt of energy the moment the snake lifted its head, hitting it squarely in the throat. The snake shuddered, hissing, and Xuxian cried out in anguish as he saw the blood streaming down the white scales.

"Susu!"

He rushed at the monk with an incoherent cry. Moving aside swiftly, Fahai's fingers flashed, striking Xuxian rapidly on the back in several acupoints, and the physician fell heavily to the ground.

Panting, the monk swung round to face Bai Suzhen as he felt her shadow falling across him. A grim smile was on his lips. The snake was bleeding heavily. He knew that she was doomed, even as his hands swiftly shaped the next blow.

Suzhen had no voice to cry out as she saw Xuxian crumple to the ground. Pain wracked her with every movement.

So she had lost, after all. She had lost Xuxian, and soon she would lose her life.

She tried to drag herself over, even though she was dimly conscious that the monk was preparing to attack. Perhaps, at the least, she could die besides Xuxian. It would be a last happiness to die by his side. Surely, the gods could grant her that at least...

The pain, when the blow landed, felt unreal. She was already dazed by the stinging sensation burning throughout her body, the weakness stiffening her muscles. Gradually she realized that she was falling, losing her balance. From the same place she had leaped off into the lake, that day in another spring so long ago, when she had taught Xuxian to swim…

So this was death, then.

For a split second she hazily saw Xuxian lying on the ground, the monk standing by him with his staff in his hand, and then they were gone too, as she toppled over the edge. It was almost a relief to feel the cool air rushing past her, knowing the sweet, comforting water would soon embrace her. As she hit the surface of the water Bai Suzhen used the last bit of her energy to transform back into her human form.

Closing her eyes, she smiled dreamily. She would go back to that day when they went swimming. She would pretend, as the water swallowed her, that she was leaping once more into the lake, and that she would find Xuxian waiting there, laughing...

May the gods have mercy.