Cho's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Cho had the lightning now. He could call it and kill it at will. But he had only ever aimed it at the air. Woo Jung was a friend who pulled his punches. Tomorrow night, a stranger would try to put him on the ground. So Cho went to the one place that could test him before the tournament did. Woo Jung came with him, and Kai met them at the door. The Warring Hall was bigger than Cho expected. A huge padded mat filled the floor. Heavy bags hung from the beams. The place smelled of sweat and old wood. Kai stood at the mat's edge with his hands in his pockets. Cho had met him once, at the iron gates, where Kai vouched him into the tournament. Kai was a teenager like Cho, with the same black and red dreadlocks. He had studied more fighting styles than Cho could name. He did not look impressed now. "You can light your hands," Kai said. "That's not the test. The test is whether you can do it while someone hits you." He stepped onto the mat. "I'll hit you." Woo Jung touched Cho's shoulder. "He's not pulling anything. Want it anyway." Kai came fast. His first strike snapped Cho's head sideways. Cho reached for the calm, the steady wanting, and the red flickered up one arm. Then Kai swept his legs. Cho hit the mat. The lightning died. Pain, not rage, had broken his focus. "Again," Cho said. He got up. Kai hit him four more times. Each time the sparks came and went. Cho kept chasing the quiet place, and the quiet place kept slipping as fists landed. He thought about the alley bike. No chain, two flat tires. His hands had known the work while the rest of him stayed still. He stopped bracing for the next punch. He just wanted the light, plain, the way he wanted a bolt to turn. Kai threw a hook. Cho took it on the jaw and did not flinch. Red roared down both arms and held. Kai swung again. The lightning stayed. Cho caught the next strike on a crackling forearm, and Kai felt the shock jump into his own hand. He pulled back and shook it out. "There," Kai said. He wasn't smiling, but he nodded. "Now you can fight." Cho let the sparks fade. His chest heaved. He had done it with someone hitting back. The freeze was gone. Then Kai's face changed. He turned toward the dark corner of the hall, where the beams met shadow. "Someone's been in here," he said, flat. "Watching. Since before you walked in." He pulled a torn black feather from his pocket and held it up. "Found this by the door. It's not mine." Cho looked at the feather. He knew whose wings were black. The thing hunting Kai's circle had followed them inside, and now it had seen exactly what Cho could do.