Prophecy Read Online Free PDF Page B

Kira asked. “What do you mean?”
    “In your mother’s dream, a large tiger leaped out of the bushes and placed its head gently on her lap. Its golden eyes were the same color as your own. I believe that tiger was the embodiment of your tiger spirit. Your gifts come from it—your great strength and speed, your keen senses, and your ability to hunt demons. There is no one else in the world like you. It is your tiger spirit that makes you who you are.”
    Kira blinked in surprise at her father’s words.
    “Kira, I’ve never shared this story with anyone else, not even your mother. But when you were a very small child, I took you and your brothers on a pilgrimage to Stone Temple. On our way, we stopped for lunch and you wandered off. When I found you, you were lying between the paws of a sleeping tiger, fast asleep. At my approach, the tiger growled at me and I froze. It rose to its feet and stalked away. I should have been frightened, but I wasn’t. I knew that the tiger would not harm you.”
    Her father’s words brought to mind a long-ago memory. She had an impression of being lost and then comforted by the warmth of a large but gentle animal. She also knew that when she was very injured or sick, she would dream of a tiger and she would always feel better.
    “If I can believe that the heavens have blessed me with a tiger-spirit daughter, then how can I doubt the existence of a Dragon Musado?” he asked.
    Kira didn’t know how to react to her father’s words.
    “I believe that one person can change the world. Whether he is the Musado or a girl with a tiger spirit. The monks teach that we mere mortals cannot question fate. But I say that we control destiny by our every action. Our power lies in the choices we make.” Her father placed his warm hand on her cheek. “In the choices you make. Remember, stay true to yourself and do what your heart tells you is right, and not what is easy.”
    She pondered her father’s words, profoundly affected by his confidence in her.
    “Father,” she replied, “I will not disappoint you.”

6
    She stood in the dark recesses of an archway on the palace’s southern walls. The walls were built over a high-ridged cliff that led to a straight drop over the widest part of the Han River, serving as a natural defense for the city.
    From the depths of the river, there rose an unnatural mist, dense and thick. She watched as a lone figure came out onto the walkway. The gold braid that edged his black jacket was a clear mark of his senior officer status. He wore a vest of scale armor with a long sword tied to his waist. His face was obscured by his helmet.
    Kira breathed in the chilly air. It coursed through her lungs, heightening her sense of dread as she watched the officer move through the mist. He stopped to speak to a sentry.
    Suddenly, the officer stabbed his fingers into the sentry’s neck. Other than a small gasp, no sound could be heard as the officer moved on, leaving the guard frozen in place, his face a comical grimace of shock.
    Moments later, five guards met the same fate. The traitor moved to the center turret and waved a lantern high above his head three times.
    Ten assassins, dressed all in black, skimmed over the top of the river. They scaled the wall with their hands and feet, as if they weighed no more than air.
    A cry from within a high sentry tower was cut short by a shower of arrows. Out of the thick, rolling mist of the river, hundreds of lights began to flash. They were from the lanterns of a huge fleet of enemy ships.
    Kira ran and found herself face-to-face with an assassin. Lashless solid black eyes stared at her, unblinking above a dark leathery mask. She flinched as the mask shimmered and peeled away, revealing razor-sharp fangs. A snarling demon launched itself at her face.
    The sickening rip of flesh brought her flailing out of her dream.
    She rolled off her futon and stumbled from her room. She could smell the stench of the demon.
    Heedless of the pain