A Tale of Two Shang
I arrived at the Shang Academy with my Master after a month of travel across different countries. My rural-born eyes had gawked at all the different sorts of items, animals and people all the way there. We had come to a strange land; Master Hawk said it was a country called Tortall, and most people here were pale white, which, even after months of travel, still left me staring.
The Shang Academy was high in the mountains. I also found that the students and masters were as varied as if all the countries we had passed by were clumped into one. I noticed that many of them were looking at me curiously. Master Hawk had already explained to me that it was very rare for the Shang to take anyone over the age of six or seven, and for them to see a newcomer of my "advanced age" of thirteen was almost unheard of. Master Hawk cleared his throat loudly.
"Students! You have a new peer. This is my apprentice, Kylaia al Jmaa," he said, sounding regal. Then he looked at me and said quietly, "Go on then, acquaint yourself. I have some business to attend, but I shall return before long." With that, he left me among the other students of Shang. I could feel my face reddening—they were all staring at me!
One boy, however, who looked to be my age or perhaps just a bit older, bounded over to me. He had copper red hair and blue-green eyes that sparkled in the sun. Although he was pale, I thought him handsome. He grinned at me and stuck out his hand.
"I'm Liam Ironarm," he said jovially. "Glad to have you among us, Kylaia." I smiled. With his approval, others started to come forth, and I learned more names that day than I could ever possibly remember.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I found Liam to be a mentor of sorts to me. He showed me around the academy and taught me the basic ropes. I even learned a few new fighting skills from him—of what I could see of his style, he was very good and had worked hard to get there. Liam teased me often. He especially liked to tease my way of learning fighting moves from the animals.
"You kick like a grown horse!" Liam exclaimed one day, grinning. "Yet, you're not grown yet. No, you're nothing but a little filly."
"A little filly?" I glared at him. "A little filly! Well, I'll show you a little filly, Liam Ironarm, so high and mighty!" We got into a sparring match quickly. I suppose I took it a bit too seriously—Iaccidentally broke his nose. After that, all he could do was croak out a meager apology.
"Well, now I have a nickname for you, too," I said, trying to lighten the mood as some other students called a master over. "Bullfrog." Not to my surprise, he gave me one last, big grin before the masters took him away to tend to his nose. I must say, it was a little more crooked after it healed.
Liam spent as much time with me as possible. We had grown very close, even if we did bicker constantly. I don't think it was really bickering—more our way of flirting with one another. I knew that I had fallen for his blue-green eyes that changed color with his mood and his big grin that he displayed on a near-constant basis. Once we got older, my seventeen to his eighteen, we began to speak of more serious topics.
"Liam? Do any of the Shang marry?" I asked him one day, curious. He smiled and tweaked my nose.
"Why? You have a sweetheart?" he asked me. I smacked his hand away from my nose gently.
"No," I said emphatically. "I was just wondering if it was against the rules, or if anyone had ever tried it before." Liam looked thoughtful.
"I suppose it's not against the rules. It's just not very common. A Shang would almost surely have to marry another Shang. Anyone else, and the differences would just be too great," he said. Liam turned to me, teasing. "Not that anyone would ever go chasing you, Filly." I put my hands on my hips, indignant.
"And just what does that mean, coming from you, Bullfrog?" He grinned at me.
"Nothing, I suppose. 'Sides, I wouldn't want anyone outside Shang to have you, little filly. No one would be good enough," he said. His eyes weren't quite blue-green, which unnerved me. If they were their usual color, he would be teasing. Without their hint of playfulness, I wasn't sure what to make of him. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and could've sworn he could hear it, too.
"Oh? And who would be good enough for me, Bullfrog?" I asked. Liam smiled and kissed my cheek, something he'd never done before.
"Me," he said, and before I could utter another word, he'd left.
Things would have been awkward after that, but we didn't have time for them to be. Liam left shortly after for his Ordeal of Shang. All Shang must take this ordeal at some point. It consisted of having a Shang explore the world and travel alone. Once they returned, they would be given their name, which in turn is their ranking. Unfortunately, I had to leave before Liam returned. I had my own Ordeal to leave on.
I discovered many things during that Ordeal—one being that I was terribly lonely without Liam. I never knew how much I depended on his smile, on his smart remarks and sometimes dry humor. Never did I realize before what it meant to be truly alone.
About half-way through my Ordeal, I heard that Liam had returned to Shang—his year was finally over. They had named him, and I was shocked and yet not shocked at the same time to learn that my best friend had been named the Shang Dragon. Dragon was the highest ranking that any Shang could achieve, among him the other immortal, mythical creatures such as Griffins and Phoenixes.
The rest of my ordeal passed slowly. I wondered constantly when I would see my friend again. Finally, I was able to return to Shang. To my utter disappointment, Liam had been called away on some mission or another, commanding some other men. ("And a right job he's doing, too," I briefly heard one of the older Masters say. "I heard he fell off his horse sleeping on the third day out!") I was named Unicorn at the naming ceremony, and I couldn't have been more pleased. All of my hard work had really paid off. I was now just below Liam in ranking. It only made sense that my friend and I were near evenly matched.
Unfortunately, with one thing leading to another, I didn't see Liam often at all. I saw him on occasion, usually passing on a road to somewhere or we happened to be staying in the same town for a night. I treasured these precious, rare moments with Liam, yet I still could not get up the courage to tell him that I loved him, for I had, in fact, fallen in love with Liam Ironarm, the Shang Dragon, my best friend and Bullfrog.
Years slid by, piling one on top of the other. First I was twenty, then twenty-four, then twenty-nine, then thirty-three. It occurred to me that I had been in the Shang for twenty years. For only four short years had I really gotten to know Liam, and yet I still loved him. Still, I hadn't the courage to tell him so.
Tortall was undergoing some major changes. The rule was being transferred from the King to the Prince, due to the death of the King. I smelled something rotten in the air and decided to go to the King's coronation, just on the off chance that I might be of some help. I saw Liam there, up near the front with other members of the King's Guard. I wished I could shout hello to him—more than anything I wished I could shout "I love you", yet that would not be the proper thing to do, so I did not.
As I had thought, there was trouble at the coronation. I helped as much as I could, but I feel that I wasn't much help at all. Only afterwards did anyone explain what had happened to me, and by then I didn't care. All I cared about was that I had seen Liam get hit with an arrow, and I needed to get him to a healer! I searched all over for him but to no avail. Seeing no one else among the carnage but servants who might know nothing, I raced to His Majesty.
"Your Majesty!" I cried. "Your Majesty, have you seen a man named Liam Ironarm?" I asked desperately. I saw a sadness in those blue eyes of his.
"He's…" the King began but hesitated. "He's on the temple altar. Nothing can be done for him now." He looked at me in confusion, as if wondering why I wished to know what had become of the great Shang Dragon. I raced to the temple, ignoring his slightly inquisitive look. What could he mean there was nothing to be done for him? I loved Liam! He was my Liam, my Dragon, my Bullfrog. No one could take him away from me! I rushed into the temple and came to a dead stop when I took in the sight before me. Liam was there just as the King had said, lying upon the altar. I raced to him, tears streaming down my cheeks. Never before had I imagined this day to come. Never before had I once considered that Liam might not be there one day for me to tell him I loved him. I took his hands in mine. They weren't cold yet. His eyes opened. They were a pale, drawn gray until they saw me. Slowly they turned a blue-green that both warmed my heart and broke it.
"Filly," he whispered. "My little filly." I grasped his hand tighter. My voice was just a raspy whisper as I said,
"Liam! Oh, Liam! My Bullfrog!" He smiled at me.
"I'm dying filly. I'm getting the death I've always wanted, the death that we as Shang have always wanted. I'm dying honorably. I'm dying fighting for something important. Oh, little filly," he reached up and brushed the tears from my cheek. "I've always loved you, Kylaia. Don't…don't forget that." Liam's breathing became more shallow.
"No! Liam!" I cried. A moment later Liam's heart stopped beating. I sunk to my knees on the floor in racking sobs. He had loved me. He had loved me as much as I had loved him, but I was too blind to see it. Now it was too late. We'd ignored one another for too long. We had abandoned our love for each other, and in the end my Liam died.
They say that when two people fall in love, they each give one another a piece of their soul. When one dies, that person takes that piece of their love with them. I didn't give Liam a piece of my soul. I gave him all of my soul, and when my love died, that's what he took. I died that day too.