Fresh Embers of Love

Chapter 77

QingWa Sheng-Da woke up in his bed, in the room that used to be his, in the Palace of Yunmeng Pond, far below Dongting Lake. He tried to roll over, and groaned at the pain and difficulty of it.

It should be a simple matter to roll over in one's bed. You lift one leg, and throw the weight to the side, the leverage spins your body. That works well when you have two legs. Now one of his legs was missing. He would have to re-learn how to do everything.

He sighed in dismay. It was going to be a long road to recovery. He transformed into his Demon form, the bulky Bullfrog body easier to manage than his human form, because in frog form he had three legs, instead of just one.

"Sheng-Da!" He heard his Mother's voice through the door. "Are you awake now?"

"Yes, Mother" He croaked with a parched throat.

She opened the door, holding a tray with a pot of tea. Sheng sniffed at it gratefully.

"Oh, you are in Demon form" she commented. "You should probably turn into human form to drink this" she advised.

Sheng pushed himself out of bed with his forelimbs and managed a three-legged scooch over to a chair in the corner. He climbed up into it, using his front legs to balance his body in the chair, before turning back to human form.

Mother poured him a cup of tea, and brought it to him. She looked at him appraisingly.

"I think you are going to recover well" she said encouragingly.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't patronize me, Mother" he said with dismay.

"I wouldn't do that, Son" she told him. "You are doing far better than I expected. At this point you shouldn't be able to move."

Sheng frowned at her. "What happens to the soldiers who lose their legs?" he asked curiously.

"We give them a small pension, and release them, after they have recovered" she answered.

"Can they walk again?" he asked.

"They have to use a staff to walk" she told him.

"The Jade Staff!" Sheng exclaimed. "I lost it when I got hit by an explosion!"

"The soldiers found it, Son" she reassured him.

Sheng sighed in relief. He couldn't face his Father if that staff had disappeared.

"Aren't you going to ask me about the sword?" Mother queried.

Sheng swallowed apprehensively. He hadn't forgotten, he had been afraid to ask. Even though he had formed the sword from his own body, he feared its power. What if he accidentally cut himself with it while using it? Would it destroy his soul? Or was his family immune from their own magic? This was a question that was not answered in Grandfather's letter. No one would volunteer to find that out.

He nodded reluctantly. Mother pulled a pair of thick leather gloves out of her belt, and put them on. Then she carefully drew the sword out of the scabbard that she had procured for it, placing the naked blade down on the table.

Sheng studied it intently. The cold black metal still radiated an evil aura, though it had been cleaned and oiled.

"Mother, did you oil this blade?" Sheng asked her, shocked and terrified.

"Yes, I did, Son. Don't worry, I used steel gloves while caring for the blade" she reassured him.

"I owed it to this sword, for feeding it a truly vile soul" she explained.

Sheng gulped. "Who did it eat?" he asked.

"The Fox Spirit" Mother replied, her voice laden with disgust.