Catching Shadows

Chapter Five: Faces From the Past

A/N: This is Chapter Five; I hope y'all like it :) I never expected to get the two reviews so fast! There are a lot of twists and turns planned in this story; I just can't wait to write them :D

Chapter Five

Night had fallen over Bianjing. Crickets chirped in the darkness, while a slight breeze stirred the trees and a penny moon rose high in the sky.

The woman walked through the darkened, now-empty streets, her hand resting on her sword hilt. Even though it had been many years since she had left Bianjing, she still knew the night was not a kind place to travellers, especially in this part of the city.

She walked until she came to the old temple. Without lights hanging at the gates to point it out to passers-by, it looked truly menacing. Knocking on the gate, she waited for admittance.

Dai Feng was sitting in his chamber, drinking, when one of the servants opened the door. "Someone's here to see you, Dragon Lord."

The Dragon Lord frowned. "Who is it?" The only person he was expecting at such a time was Liang.

The servant made no reply, but bowed as a woman came into the room. She had changed somewhat from sixteen years ago, but her face was still the same.

Dai Feng smiled. "Zhao. I wondered how long it would take you to get here." He waved his hand to the servant to shut the doors, and the man obeyed.

"Sit," the Dragon Lord ordered, waving his hand at the chair in front of him. Zhao complied, resting her sword on the table, with her hand over it.

There was silence for a few minutes, and then Dai Feng spoke. "How long has it been since you left?"

"Sixteen years," the woman replied. There was a touch of wistfulness in her voice, and she looked down at the ground.

"Sixteen years," Dai Feng murmured. "You're still as beautiful as ever."

Zhao's eyes narrowed. "Where is it?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What?" The Dragon Lord's face was the picture of ignorance, but Zhao wasn't fooled. She had known him too long for that.

"You know what I mean," she returned curtly. "The pendant you had those so-called Buddhist monks steal from me and take here. Where is it?"

Dai Feng looked away, a muscle working in his jaw. "I don't have it."

Zhao laughed. It was far from pleasant. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth," the man returned sharply. "I sent one of my assassins to fetch it from the docks, but it was...mislaid on the way." The words came out bitterly between his teeth. Dai Feng had never been one to accept failure, and it was a hard pill to swallow.

Zhao stared at the wall, shaking her head. "I should never have agreed to do what I did for you."

"But you did," the Dragon Lord returned inexorably. "And you were quite happy to do it then, as I recall."

"That was a mistake!" Zhao snapped. "And I have spent the last sixteen years paying for it. I should have destroyed that pendant the second I got out of Bianjing." She paused, and then a little smile played across her lips. "But maybe, in coming back here to find it lost, I have been given a second chance."

"You will have to compete with my assassins to find it," Dai Feng warned. "They are not ones you wish to trifle with."

Zhao got to her feet, a smile on her face. "I used to be one of them. It will be harder than you think, to get back at me." She turned and left the room without looking back.