IRON BLOODED HEART (Book 1 of Legend Of The Condor Heroes)

Drawing The Bow To Shoot Condors Part 3

Han Xiaoying thought that, after suffering the rigors of the Mongolian steppe for more than ten years, and Fifth brother losing his life here, the end result was so disappointing! She felt a pain in her heart and began sobbing. Throwing her sword to the ground, she left with her hands covering her face.

Guo Jing ran after her, but didn't catch her. He stood there, stupidly immobile, with his heart broken. He knew that he owed everything to his Shifus and had hoped to succeed in the martial arts to prove to them his recognition of their teaching. Though he made every effort, he still couldn't succeed and he didn't know what to do any longer. He was lost in thought when he suddenly heard Hua Zheng's voice calling him, "Guo Jing, come quickly! Come quickly!"

He turned around and saw her on her horse with an anxious and excited expression. "What's happened?" Guo Jing asked.

"Quickly, come and see," Hua Zheng answered. "There's a fight with two big eagles."

"I'm training now."

"You trained so badly that your Shifu scolded you, am I right?"

Guo Jing nodded his head miserably.

"It is indeed a terrifying fight, come let's see it..."

Guo Jing was very tempted, but he remembered the disappointment he caused the Seventh Shifu, and shook his head sadly. "I won't go."

"I came especially to tell you," an excited Hua Zheng said. "If you don't come, don't expect to find me later!"

"Then quickly go alone. If you tell me later how it went, it will be almost the same thing..."

Hua Zheng jumped down from her horse and with a stubborn look on her face she walked up to him. "If you won't go, I won't go either. I wonder if it's the black eagles that are going to win, or the white ones..."

"Is it the pair of big white eagles, that live on cliff?"

"Yes! Even though the black eagles outnumber them, the white ones are still very dangerous; they've already killed three or four blacks with their beaks..."

On the top of the cliff, a couple of white eagles nested. White feathers were very rare amongst eagles, and these eagles were not only completely white but also of exceptional size. The Ancients used to say that they had never seen their equal, and considered those eagles 'Divine' birds. Some women even avowed them in a cult.

Listening to her, Guo Jing couldn't hold back any longer. He took Hua Zheng's hand and the two jumped onto the back of her horse and rushed to the cliff. When they got there, they saw the white eagles fighting against seventeen or eighteen black ones, attacking them with their beaks and their talons, making feathers fly. The white eagles were bigger and stronger. A single stroke of their powerful beak on the head was enough to kill an enemy, who then fell to the ground. The others flew away; but came back soon after to surround the pair again.

The spectacle had attracted many spectators; more than six hundred men and women, from many tribes, were gathered and commenting on the fight. Even Temujin, accompanied by Ogedai and Tolui, had come and watched the fight with interest.

Guo Jing, Tolui and Hua Zheng often played at the bottom of the cliff, and saw the white eagles nearly every day flying to their nest or leaving it when going to hunt. Sometimes, the children threw them some cuts of sheep meat; the eagles then dove and snatched them with precision while in the air. By doing this, they created close ties between them and the eagles. Because the white eagles were fewer in number, the children encouraged them with great vigor. "Go, white eagles! Attack! Watch out, enemy on the left! Quickly! Well done!"