Prophecy (20 page)

“We are called the Singing Temple because at certain times of the year, the voices of singing angels surround us from the mountains,” he said.

“Angels?” she asked.

“Yes, angels singing glorious music such as you have never heard before.”

“Have you actually heard the voices yourself?” she asked.

The monk nodded, a dreamy expression on his face. “It’s hard to explain what it sounds like, but now that you are here, perhaps you will experience it for yourselves.”

Kwan interrupted abruptly. “What I want to know is why the Yamatos didn’t come here.”

The monk gazed at Kwan with a puzzled expression. “But these are holy grounds,” he said. “No evil can enter the sacred mountains.”

“How could they be stopped?” Kwan asked.

“By the angels,” the monk replied. “They would not allow an enemy army into their mountains. War does not enter our realm.”

Before Kwan could question him further, Brother Woojin arrived and introduced the temple’s head monk, Master Hong, to the group. The old monk peered closely at them, his wrinkled face alive with curiosity.

“Greetings, my children! We welcome you to stay the night at our monastery,” he said in a high-pitched, wavering voice. “I am aware of your task, and you will need your energy, for we do not know how long you will hike through our sacred mountains to find what you’re looking for. After all, there are ten thousand miracles here, and Brother Woojin tells me you have no idea where to start!”

Master Hong chuckled as if this was the most hilarious thing he had ever heard. Kira gazed at the others in alarm. They’d all taken for granted that Brother Woojin knew where they were to go. Did he expect them to wander the mountain cliffs in the dead of winter, blindly seeking something that had been hidden for centuries?

“Do not fear, young ones,” Brother Woojin said. “The path will find us if we keep our eyes open.”

Kira was troubled by the monk’s words. How could they plan what to do without knowing where to go?

“Sunim, are you trying to tell us that you have no idea where to start?” Kira asked.

“That’s not entirely true,” Brother Woojin corrected. “I believe we are to head to Nine Dragons Waterfall and the Eight Jade Fairy Pools. It is the beginning.”

“The beginning of what?” Kira asked.

But the monk didn’t answer.

They left early the next morning for Nine Dragons Waterfall. Master
Hong shook his head in concern as he described the hours of hiking it would take them to reach their destination. The series of directions he gave Brother Woojin were incomprehensible to Kira, but Brother Woojin just nodded. The monks provided them with tents, extra blankets, heavy coats, boots, and food needed to sustain their hike. Faced with snow-covered terrain, Kira was sorry to leave the warmth and security of the temple.

The trail followed the course of a river, but the river itself was only at a fraction of its normal flow. Jindo jumped off the dirt trail and down the rocky side to drink from the trickling water.

It snowed heavily for several hours. The drifts came up to their knees, making the hike slow going. They traveled single file. Kwan led the way, followed by Brother Woojin and Taejo. Kira walked behind Taejo, with Jaewon and Seung taking up the rear.

She watched as Taejo struggled to lift his feet and trudge through the high snow. Even Kira found it hard to resist the inertia creeping over her, making her eyes heavy. Shaking it off, she pushed on, keeping a sharp eye on Taejo.

They’d been walking for another hour when she saw her cousin fall onto his hands and knees. Jindo whined, nudging him.

Kira grabbed Taejo by his elbow as Jaewon came over to help him on the other side. Taejo’s head lolled forward.

“Just a little farther and there is a clearing where we can set up camp for the night,” Kwan said.

Kira nodded and gripped Taejo about his waist, overlapping arms with Jaewon as they carried him. At the clearing, Kira held him upright on a rock as the others quickly prepared their campsite. Once a tent was up, Taejo crawled in and buried himself with blankets, Jindo pressing next to him. He fell asleep immediately.

“He’ll be all right,” Jaewon said to Kira.

Kwan and Jaewon built a large campfire as Seung and Brother Woojin prepared a meal. Kira paced around the perimeter, to check for any dangers, before returning to the fire. She sat next to Jaewon, noting the shadow of grief that passed over his face as he studied the fire.

“You said you lost someone you loved,” she said. “What happened?”

Jaewon didn’t respond. Kira watched his frosty breath fill the air between them. She had nearly given up when his voice came to her ear in a soft whisper.

“I was thirteen when it happened. We were visiting the mountain god shrine in preparation for the coming harvest. My brother was seven years old, given to running wild, as young boys will do.” He gave a soft chuckle. “I still remember how he loved to wrestle with anyone or anything he could get his hands on, even a neighbor’s pig!”

He held his face up to the skies. His breath caught as he spoke. “The steps to the temple were steep and treacherous. I had brought my new bow with me, the one my father commissioned for my birthday. I shouldn’t have brought it, but I was proud and unaccustomed to being refused. My brother was anxious to see my bow. He kept asking to hold it, and I kept saying no. We were halfway up when he grabbed it from my hands, breaking it in the process. I was so mad! I wasn’t thinking when I …” He stopped and ran a shaky hand over his face. He stared blindly into the fire before him. Kira noticed suddenly that Seung and Kwan sat nearby, listening to his every word.

“I hit him, forgetting that we were on those steep steps. He fell all the way down. I tried to catch him, but it was too late. When I reached the bottom, his head was bleeding and his eyes were still open. I knew he was dead.”

A bleak smile creased his lips. “It was my mother who called me a murderer. Sometimes at night, I can still hear her crying.”

“It was an accident,” Kira said. Her heart hurt and her eyes burned with tears.

“It was my fault,” he replied. “And I must live with it.” Rising, he walked away into the woods. Kira looked at the others, who’d sat listening quietly as Jaewon spoke. Seung continued to prepare their meal, his usual cheer replaced by melancholy.

Kwan sighed. “Poor fellow.”

“He carries a heavy burden,” Brother Woojin said. “I hope one day he will be able to forgive himself or else—”

“Or else what?” Kira asked.

“Or else it will destroy him.”

She woke in the middle of the night. Darkness blanketed the
Diamond Mountains all around them. Within the tent, she lay next to Taejo, with Kwan on his other side. They were rolled tightly within their furs and lying as close together as possible. Jindo lay at their feet, providing them with some additional warmth. Kira could see the flickering flames through the tightly closed canvas of their tent. She watched the silhouette of a stocky figure throwing more sticks into the large fire.

That must be Seung standing guard
, she thought.

She heard the wind shaking the bare limbs of the trees as if searching for the leaves it once rustled through. She dozed again.

It was the sound of singing and lighthearted laughter that woke her. At first, she thought she was dreaming. Then she saw Taejo sit up and look around in bewilderment. Kwan jumped to his feet and rushed out of the tent. The singing grew louder.

Putting on their heavy coats, she and Taejo joined Kwan, Seung, and Brother Woojin; all of them stood staring at a golden, shimmering light that lit up the forest, exuding warmth and invitation. Taejo began to move toward it when Kwan called to him.

“Stop! I don’t want you going near it until I know what it is,” Kwan said.

“No, Lord Kang!” Brother Woojin waved him back. “This is the sign we’ve been waiting for. We must follow the prince.”

Jaewon appeared behind them.

“What is it?” he asked.

Taejo shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know, but I think it wants us to follow it.”

Jindo trotted toward the light, stopped, and looked at them. He barked once and ran down the trail. Taejo followed, with Kira and Brother Woojin right behind him. From a distance, she heard Seung announce that he would stay behind and guard their campsite. She even heard Kwan shout after them to wait, but neither she nor Taejo stopped. She found the pull of the light too alluring to fight.

Within the forest, the light changed night into day. No longer did her boots crunch on newly fallen snow. Instead, she wondered at the green grass beneath her feet and the warmth of a beautiful spring morning. This was powerful magic.

Glancing back, she saw that her brother and Jaewon still stood in the knee-deep snow, their breath frosty in the air before them. Just ahead of her, Brother Woojin and Taejo were taking off their coats, leaving them on a large boulder as they lifted their faces to the warm sun. Kira took off her heavy coat and placed it on a nearby boulder also.

“What are you doing?” Kwan asked sharply. “You’ll freeze to death!”

“Don’t you feel the sun?” Taejo asked in surprise. “It’s springtime here.”

Kwan looked alarmed. He stepped forward and stopped. Putting his hand in front of his face, he pounded at the air, as if there was an invisible wall.

“We can’t go through,” he shouted as Jaewon, too, began to push on the barrier.

“I don’t think you are supposed to come with us,” Brother Woojin said. “It is why you cannot see the change in the weather here. But don’t worry. We will be safe.”

“No, I can’t let you go without me!” Kwan was furious.

“Oppa,” Kira said. “It’s all right. I’m here.”

Kwan calmed down and put down his fists. He nodded and crossed his arms. “Be smart, Kira.”

She inclined her head. As she turned away, her eyes caught Jaewon’s.

“Be safe,” he said.

She walked after Taejo and the monk as they followed the trail. The sharp peaks, which had glistened with snow and mist, now glinted like the jewels they were named after. All around, the forest bloomed vibrant and lush.

They walked along the course of blanketed green, the sweet smell of honeysuckle and peach heavy in the air. The music was louder now, as were the laughter and melodic singing of the unseen beings.

“What is this place?” Taejo asked.

“We are walking into the playground of the gods,” Brother Woojin said. His excitement was palpable and contagious. “When they first appeared in our world, they came here to the Diamond Mountains and pronounced it the most wondrous place.”

The trail snaked around a jutting mountain. Across a large river, an elaborate golden bridge encrusted in jewels stood near the tallest waterfall she’d ever seen.

“Nine Dragons Waterfall,” Kira said with an awestruck breath. “It must be nearly a quarter of a li high!”

A heavy ribbon of water coursed between the shadows of two large mountains. Mist sprayed up into Kira’s face, soothing and refreshing.

“Sunim, why is it called Nine Dragons Waterfall?” Taejo asked.

“Legend has it that nine young sea dragons left their ocean home to seek wives. They flew all over the world but couldn’t find anyone that took their fancy. Until they reached the Diamond Mountains. Here, they came across eight Heavenly Maidens, each more beautiful than the other. But there were eight maidens and nine dragon suitors. Unable to choose fairly and unwilling to fight one another, the dragons decided that they would take no wives. Instead they would guard the pool of the maidens so that no one would ever disturb them while they were bathing. It’s rumored that the nine dragons live here in this waterfall, always ready to protect their maidens.”

“I wish I could see them,” Taejo said. “I’ve always wanted to see a dragon.”

Kira shook her head. “Yes, but nine of them at the same time? I think that would give me heart palpitations.”

As they crossed the bridge, Kira leaned her face into the spray, enjoying the tingling sensation of the cool water before hurrying after the others. She missed the warm weather terribly. Camping out in the winter elements taught her one thing—she hated the cold.

They stopped short before a staircase, as ornate as the golden bridge they had just crossed, that appeared magically before them in a steep incline straight up the mountainside, each step made of pure crystal and framed with gold.

“Is it real?” Taejo asked.

Kira stepped forward and ran her fingers over the ornate handrail. She grinned. “Come on, let’s climb!”

Jindo barked and whined. The big dog cowered away from the stairs.

“It’s all right, boy. You stay here!” Taejo said. Without any hesitation, he began to climb after her.

Kira felt the music pull at her, giving her the confidence to ascend the delicate stairs. For a brief moment, she looked down and felt an intense wave of vertigo. Gripping the golden handrails tightly with both hands, she continued to climb. No one spoke, but it wasn’t quiet. The air filled with the roar of the waterfall and the music from above. All she could see were clouds and mist. She walked out into a valley where a series of jade pools, linked together like beads on a necklace, fed the waterfall.