Martial Art Fantasy Short Story
Author: Hani Law Copyright © 2006
Author: Hani Law Copyright © 2006
SWAN BEAUTY
CHAPTER 11
We train vigorously for nearly six months in order to
reach a level of achievement that is acceptable to
Master Swan. One of the weapons we devote
particular attention to is the dancing ribbon
specifically suited to female combatants. Master
Swan has also taught us how to form a Yin-Yang
combat formation, where we have to attack or
defend ourselves in designated positions within the
formation that changes in keeping with the nature of
the enemy offensive and adapts itself accordingly.
The purpose of forming the Yin-Yang combat
formation is to prevent ourselves from being taken
unawares by the enemy as well as to ambush the
enemy. At last, the day arrives for us to make our
journey to the land of the Black Head Tribe. With
Master Swan leading the way, virtually all her pupils
follow her, as do Swan May and the Prince.
We have to travel for two weeks before we reach our
destination. We rest for the night and shortly before
daybreak, set out for the Chief’s mansion. Once we
have located it, Master Swan and half the members
of our team spring up to the roof and start searching
for Black Head’s bedroom. As we have been trained
to move lightly, we are able to leap effortlessly from
one section of the roof to another without making a
noise. We keep removing a couple of tiles from the
roof of each and every room until finally, Master
Swan finds Black Head in one of the rooms.
Black Head is fast asleep in his bed. Master Swan
removes a few more tiles from the roof and flies
down inside the room like a swallow. An experienced
and skilful martial-arts fighter himself, Black Head
is immediately awakened by the sound of the
intrusion. As Master Swan strikes him with her
powerful ribbon, Black Head is already out of bed
and armed with a sword snatched from the bedpost
where it was hanging.
“Who are you and why are you here?” shouts Black
Head, unable to recognize Master Swan.
“Ha, ha!” she laughs, “today is the very last day of
your life! I will be the one to send you to hell so you
can atone for all your past sins.”
Black Head scrutinizes Master Swan carefully. Then
he notices her missing left arm and recognition
dawns. “How dare you come back here!” he roars in
a rage. “I had routed you in combat before. Don’t
tell me you’ve learnt nothing from your humiliating
defeat?”
Without deigning to reply, Master Swan waves her
dancing ribbon at Black Head. He moves swiftly to
the side in a clever feint to avoid being lashed by the
ribbon. Every blow he strikes with his sword is
directed at Master Swan’s vital organs. His
movements are lightning-fast, his attacks merciless.
Every play of the sword is calculated to kill his
opponent instantly. After a few thrusts and parries, it
is evident that Black Head has gained an edge over
Master Swan. He has succeeded in putting her on the
defensive. Although her martial-arts skills appear to
be on par with Black Head’s, her attacks are not
quite as powerful as his and she is unable to wield
her ribbon dexterously enough to obtain optimum
results. In the meantime, while engaging in combat,
they have covered the distance between the Chief’s
bedroom and the courtyard and I realize what a
dangerous predicament she has landed herself in.
Titi must have heard the commotion. She comes out
into the courtyard carrying the qing, sits down in a
corner and starts playing a dangerously powerful
melody on it. It strikes me suddenly, that when the
tune reaches a crescendo and the tempo becomes
superfast, those listening to it will start bleeding
from every orifice on their faces. Master Swan has
taught us all there is to know about the different
kinds of weapons used in the practice of the martial
arts and this is one of them.
Master Swan is the first to recognize this, of course.
No sooner has she heard the music from Titi’s qing
than she yells out a warning to us all, commanding
us to regroup in a fortress formation. While we are
about it, she leaps swiftly into the centre, sits down
and crosses her legs. I realize that she is trying to
transfer the inner energy from her own body to her
pupils’ to prevent them from being adversely
affected by gradual build-up of Titi’s melody.
Although Black Head tries to follow his opponent
into the formation, he is intercepted by the Prince
and Swan May, armed with their lovers’ swords.
Concentrating though I am on the fortress formation
of which I am a part, I can hear the twirl and swish
of the love swords engaged in a magnificent show of
resistance against Black Head.
“You have destroyed my people and my land!”
shouts the Prince to Black Head. “The day has come
for you to pay your debt in blood to those of my
subjects who are waiting for you in the other world!”
“How come you’re still alive?” Black Head asks
nastily. “Well, I suppose you want me to give you a
hand in joining your fellow countrymen!”
“Try our love swords and in no time, you will know
your destiny!” the Prince retorts.
The fight shows no signs of coming to an end. Then
suddenly, with lightning speed, the lovers’ swords
slash at Black Head. We look on, stunned, as his
severed head rolls off his shoulder and falls to the
ground, just before his body crumples over. Seeing
her father dead, Titi rushes over to his prone body
and begins weeping hysterically. Master Swan
disperses the battle formation before approaching
Titi. Then she discloses her identity.
In a state of deep shock and hysteria, Titi is neither
able to comprehend nor believe that Master Swan is,
indeed, her own mother. She stares at her and
insists, “I have no
mother. From the time she abandoned me, she has
never come to see me even once. All of you have
murdered my father in cold blood. It is now my turn
for revenge.”
The Prince then approaches Titi in a bid to try and
help Master Swan explain the circumstances which
compelled her to keep away from her own daughter.
But before he can utter a word, Titi looks at him and
screams, “You have spurned my love and made me
desperately unhappy! You are all my enemies!”
Without warning, she picks up the sword that Black
Head had dropped and strikes a blow at the Prince.
Anticipating her move, I instantly wave my ribbon
towards two pressure points located on the circles
around her neck with the simple intention of
paralyzing her. These pressure points are not, in
fact, vital ones. However, the kind of inner energy
she has had to mobilize to play that powerful melody
on the qing may well have changed the position of
the pressure points on her body. Furthermore, being
in a state of acute hysteria and unable, therefore, to
anticipate my attack from the rear, she is caught
unawares. In no position to ward off the lash of my
ribbon, she chokes to death the moment it strikes her
on the neck. The change in position of her pressure
points has, it seems, left her oesophagus completely
defenceless. Master Swan is horrified by the turn of
events. She immediately raises Titi to a sitting
position in an attempt to restore her to life and tries
to reverse the flow of her daughter’s inner energy by
deploying her own against three other pressure
points on the girl’s body.
After ten minutes of this exercise, however, Master
Swan is utterly exhausted from having used up too
much of her inner energy and all her efforts are in
vain. She is devastated by what has just transpired
and cannot come to terms with the idea of her
daughter’s death at the hands of one of her own
pupils who has used to fatal effect the very skills
Master Swan has trained her in. At the same time,
she is furious with me for not only breaking my
promise to her and staying away from Swan
Mountain for months, but for being the cause of her
daughter’s untimely demise. She reminds me of how I
had flouted the rules laid down by her earlier and
tells me that although she has no intentions of taking
revenge on me for what has happened not minutes
ago, she cannot allow her daughter’s assassin to live
with her, train under her and be a member of her
clan. She is, therefore, expelling me from the Swan
Clan.
I am surprised that the news does not leave me in
despair as might have been expected. Instinct tells
me that whether I remain in Swan Mountain or not is
quite irrelevant. I cannot continue to enjoy the
Prince’s company indefinitely anyway. He will, in all
likelihood, marry Swan May and take possession of
the land that belonged to Black Head. Helpless and
despondent, I do not beg Master Swan for mercy or
forgiveness. But I do make an effort to explain to her
that my intentions while dealing with Titi were not
malicious. All I had been trying to do was immobilize
her with my ribbon. Her death had been nothing but
an accident. I thank Master Swan for all that she has
taught me and bid farewell to her and to all my
fellow pupils.
Master Swan then orders her pupils to return to
Swan Mountain, promising them that she will train
them to become the best female warriors ever. She
also declares that the Swan Clan will become the
biggest and most powerful warrior clan on earth.
As for the Prince, he takes Swan May as his wife,
which was only to be expected, and assumes charge
of the land once occupied by Black Head.
CHAPTER 11
We train vigorously for nearly six months in order to
reach a level of achievement that is acceptable to
Master Swan. One of the weapons we devote
particular attention to is the dancing ribbon
specifically suited to female combatants. Master
Swan has also taught us how to form a Yin-Yang
combat formation, where we have to attack or
defend ourselves in designated positions within the
formation that changes in keeping with the nature of
the enemy offensive and adapts itself accordingly.
The purpose of forming the Yin-Yang combat
formation is to prevent ourselves from being taken
unawares by the enemy as well as to ambush the
enemy. At last, the day arrives for us to make our
journey to the land of the Black Head Tribe. With
Master Swan leading the way, virtually all her pupils
follow her, as do Swan May and the Prince.
We have to travel for two weeks before we reach our
destination. We rest for the night and shortly before
daybreak, set out for the Chief’s mansion. Once we
have located it, Master Swan and half the members
of our team spring up to the roof and start searching
for Black Head’s bedroom. As we have been trained
to move lightly, we are able to leap effortlessly from
one section of the roof to another without making a
noise. We keep removing a couple of tiles from the
roof of each and every room until finally, Master
Swan finds Black Head in one of the rooms.
Black Head is fast asleep in his bed. Master Swan
removes a few more tiles from the roof and flies
down inside the room like a swallow. An experienced
and skilful martial-arts fighter himself, Black Head
is immediately awakened by the sound of the
intrusion. As Master Swan strikes him with her
powerful ribbon, Black Head is already out of bed
and armed with a sword snatched from the bedpost
where it was hanging.
“Who are you and why are you here?” shouts Black
Head, unable to recognize Master Swan.
“Ha, ha!” she laughs, “today is the very last day of
your life! I will be the one to send you to hell so you
can atone for all your past sins.”
Black Head scrutinizes Master Swan carefully. Then
he notices her missing left arm and recognition
dawns. “How dare you come back here!” he roars in
a rage. “I had routed you in combat before. Don’t
tell me you’ve learnt nothing from your humiliating
defeat?”
Without deigning to reply, Master Swan waves her
dancing ribbon at Black Head. He moves swiftly to
the side in a clever feint to avoid being lashed by the
ribbon. Every blow he strikes with his sword is
directed at Master Swan’s vital organs. His
movements are lightning-fast, his attacks merciless.
Every play of the sword is calculated to kill his
opponent instantly. After a few thrusts and parries, it
is evident that Black Head has gained an edge over
Master Swan. He has succeeded in putting her on the
defensive. Although her martial-arts skills appear to
be on par with Black Head’s, her attacks are not
quite as powerful as his and she is unable to wield
her ribbon dexterously enough to obtain optimum
results. In the meantime, while engaging in combat,
they have covered the distance between the Chief’s
bedroom and the courtyard and I realize what a
dangerous predicament she has landed herself in.
Titi must have heard the commotion. She comes out
into the courtyard carrying the qing, sits down in a
corner and starts playing a dangerously powerful
melody on it. It strikes me suddenly, that when the
tune reaches a crescendo and the tempo becomes
superfast, those listening to it will start bleeding
from every orifice on their faces. Master Swan has
taught us all there is to know about the different
kinds of weapons used in the practice of the martial
arts and this is one of them.
Master Swan is the first to recognize this, of course.
No sooner has she heard the music from Titi’s qing
than she yells out a warning to us all, commanding
us to regroup in a fortress formation. While we are
about it, she leaps swiftly into the centre, sits down
and crosses her legs. I realize that she is trying to
transfer the inner energy from her own body to her
pupils’ to prevent them from being adversely
affected by gradual build-up of Titi’s melody.
Although Black Head tries to follow his opponent
into the formation, he is intercepted by the Prince
and Swan May, armed with their lovers’ swords.
Concentrating though I am on the fortress formation
of which I am a part, I can hear the twirl and swish
of the love swords engaged in a magnificent show of
resistance against Black Head.
“You have destroyed my people and my land!”
shouts the Prince to Black Head. “The day has come
for you to pay your debt in blood to those of my
subjects who are waiting for you in the other world!”
“How come you’re still alive?” Black Head asks
nastily. “Well, I suppose you want me to give you a
hand in joining your fellow countrymen!”
“Try our love swords and in no time, you will know
your destiny!” the Prince retorts.
The fight shows no signs of coming to an end. Then
suddenly, with lightning speed, the lovers’ swords
slash at Black Head. We look on, stunned, as his
severed head rolls off his shoulder and falls to the
ground, just before his body crumples over. Seeing
her father dead, Titi rushes over to his prone body
and begins weeping hysterically. Master Swan
disperses the battle formation before approaching
Titi. Then she discloses her identity.
In a state of deep shock and hysteria, Titi is neither
able to comprehend nor believe that Master Swan is,
indeed, her own mother. She stares at her and
insists, “I have no
mother. From the time she abandoned me, she has
never come to see me even once. All of you have
murdered my father in cold blood. It is now my turn
for revenge.”
The Prince then approaches Titi in a bid to try and
help Master Swan explain the circumstances which
compelled her to keep away from her own daughter.
But before he can utter a word, Titi looks at him and
screams, “You have spurned my love and made me
desperately unhappy! You are all my enemies!”
Without warning, she picks up the sword that Black
Head had dropped and strikes a blow at the Prince.
Anticipating her move, I instantly wave my ribbon
towards two pressure points located on the circles
around her neck with the simple intention of
paralyzing her. These pressure points are not, in
fact, vital ones. However, the kind of inner energy
she has had to mobilize to play that powerful melody
on the qing may well have changed the position of
the pressure points on her body. Furthermore, being
in a state of acute hysteria and unable, therefore, to
anticipate my attack from the rear, she is caught
unawares. In no position to ward off the lash of my
ribbon, she chokes to death the moment it strikes her
on the neck. The change in position of her pressure
points has, it seems, left her oesophagus completely
defenceless. Master Swan is horrified by the turn of
events. She immediately raises Titi to a sitting
position in an attempt to restore her to life and tries
to reverse the flow of her daughter’s inner energy by
deploying her own against three other pressure
points on the girl’s body.
After ten minutes of this exercise, however, Master
Swan is utterly exhausted from having used up too
much of her inner energy and all her efforts are in
vain. She is devastated by what has just transpired
and cannot come to terms with the idea of her
daughter’s death at the hands of one of her own
pupils who has used to fatal effect the very skills
Master Swan has trained her in. At the same time,
she is furious with me for not only breaking my
promise to her and staying away from Swan
Mountain for months, but for being the cause of her
daughter’s untimely demise. She reminds me of how I
had flouted the rules laid down by her earlier and
tells me that although she has no intentions of taking
revenge on me for what has happened not minutes
ago, she cannot allow her daughter’s assassin to live
with her, train under her and be a member of her
clan. She is, therefore, expelling me from the Swan
Clan.
I am surprised that the news does not leave me in
despair as might have been expected. Instinct tells
me that whether I remain in Swan Mountain or not is
quite irrelevant. I cannot continue to enjoy the
Prince’s company indefinitely anyway. He will, in all
likelihood, marry Swan May and take possession of
the land that belonged to Black Head. Helpless and
despondent, I do not beg Master Swan for mercy or
forgiveness. But I do make an effort to explain to her
that my intentions while dealing with Titi were not
malicious. All I had been trying to do was immobilize
her with my ribbon. Her death had been nothing but
an accident. I thank Master Swan for all that she has
taught me and bid farewell to her and to all my
fellow pupils.
Master Swan then orders her pupils to return to
Swan Mountain, promising them that she will train
them to become the best female warriors ever. She
also declares that the Swan Clan will become the
biggest and most powerful warrior clan on earth.
As for the Prince, he takes Swan May as his wife,
which was only to be expected, and assumes charge
of the land once occupied by Black Head.
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