“What about the passage troubles you?”

“It says here ‘To conquer others is to have power. To conquer yourself is to know the Way.’ What ‘Way’ is she talking about?”

“The Way of Serenity. Of Wisdom. Of being one with the Universe.”

“And how does someone conquer themselves? I’m not sure what she’s getting at here.”

“Humanity is driven by a will. To conquer yourself is to rise above that will. To let it no longer have an impact on your life.” Lao Ma smiled at Kael’s still slightly confused look. “A will is like a bolder that is loosed from the top of a mountain. It rolls down the slope, destroying all in its path. It does not stop until it either runs into something that is stronger than itself, more often than not destroying itself in the process, or until it no longer has the energy to destroy. If the bolder is simply removed at its source, the mountain’s summit, it cannot destroy, and life beneath it continues as it was meant to be.”

“So, it all goes back to getting rid of your will.”

“Exactly.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“The philosophy is easy. The practice is not.”

“Not even for you?”

Lao Ma’s face shone with compassion. “Not even for me.”

Kael sighed. “Well …I suppose it might be a little easier if I could see a practical application of this philosophy. You know, to make it more real to me.”

The older woman’s dark, almond eyes narrowed. “It occurs to me that you are mainly interested in whatever powers may come with this philosophy.”

The corner of Kael’s mouth curved upward. “I’d be lying if I said that your …special …powers don’t intrigue me. But, if what I’m hearing you say is true, I won’t be able to use them unless I follow your teachings. So, based on this, what harm can my knowledge cause?” Kael looked deceptively innocent, reminding Lao Ma again never to underestimate the powerful woman.

She thought quickly, carefully weighing the pros and cons, then sighed, coming to a decision. “Come with me.”

She didn’t miss the triumphant spark that lit Kael’s pale eyes as she jumped to her feet, all to willing to follow her mentor into this new stage of learning.

Same Day. Ming Dao’s Estate. Chengdu, China.

Geraldo stood in the waiting room of Ming Dao’s mansion, nervously pacing before the antiques that garishly decorated the place. He had been waiting for two hours for an audience with the drug lord, his heart beating more quickly with each passing moment until he was sure it would explode from his chest.

Finally, the door opened and a large bodyguard gestured for the Colombian to enter Ming Dao’s office. Geraldo found himself before the older man’s desk in short order, wiping his sweaty palms on his perfectly pressed slacks.

After a long moment, Ming Dao looked up from his work on the desk, his eyes magnified behind the thick lenses of his glasses. “You asked for a month, Mr. Rodriguez. I have given you that, and more. And yet that worthless whore continues to elude you. That is not what you promised me, Mr. Rodriguez. Not what you promised me at all.”

“She is here, Ming Dao,” Geraldo countered. “And I’m quite sure I know where she is hiding.”

The Asian’s eyebrows rose, giving him an almost comical appearance. “Then why is she not here, in this room? What games are you playing with me?”

“No games, Ming Dao,” Geraldo hastened to explain. “I assure you. It’s just that …she’s in the one place you won’t allow me to look.”

“And where might that be?”

“The whorehouse run by that woman you call Lao Ma. I don’t trust her. She’s hiding something, and I bet my empire that it’s Kael.”

Ming Dao smiled. “You must be very sure of yourself to make a bet like that, Mr. Rodriguez.”

“I am very sure.”

“Very well. I will give you another week. You may search the pleasure house at your leisure. If you can find your whore among all the others, I will honor my arrangement with you and you may sell my product in your country. If not,” Ming Dao’s smile became a shark’s leer, “your empire, and your life, become mine to do with as I wish. Do we have a deal, Mr. Rodriguez?”

“What will happen to Kael?”

“For kidnapping my son, her life is already forfeit. She belongs to me and is not part of the arrangement.”

After a moment, Geraldo nodded. “Alright, you’ve got a deal.”

“Very good. I will see you in exactly one week. Leave now.”

Bowing his head respectfully, Geraldo turned from the desk and was escorted from the mansion. As he slipped into the car and keyed the engine, he thought briefly of just going over to the whorehouse and grabbing Kael. But then he hesitated. Ming Dao had given him a week. He would make the old man sweat it out. Then he would retrieve what was his. Ming Dao would never have Kael. But he would find that out the hard way. Later.

A dark smile bloomed on his face as he pulled away from the walled estate. “This is going to be fun.”

Same Day. Lao Ma’s House. Chengdu, China.

Lao Ma led Kael to a large room that looked somewhat like a gymnasium. The walls and floors were padded, their coverings vivid with Chinese characters so that the entire room looked like one gigantic mural.

Off in one corner, a group of shelves stood, each bearing an assortment of clay pots, glass bottles, small carved figurines, rocks and other sundries. A small round table sat in front of a wide window which showed the vista of the sun-drenched city several stories below.

“Please choose an object from the shelves and place it on the table,” Lao Ma requested, coming to stand, relaxed, before said piece of furniture.

Kael did as she was asked, selecting a blown glass green fish and setting it on the table, before backing off a few paces, watching the older woman avidly.

Standing relaxed, her hands loosely by her sides, Lao Ma took in a deep, cleansing breath, then let it out slowly. She allowed that core of serenity always within her, a gift from her ancestor, to break its bounds and flow through her, filling everything within her. She focussed her eyes on the glass figurine.

It shattered.

“Holy shit!” Kael shouted, a wide, disbelieving grin on her face. “That was fantastic! Show me how you did that!”

Lao Ma laughed, taking in Kael’s child-like excitement and glowing eyes. At that moment, she sensed no malicious intent in the woman before her, but that wasn’t to say those feelings wouldn’t change in a heartbeat’s time. Some of your wisdom would be appreciated right now, Honored Ancestor. I can only hope that I am doing the right thing, teaching her these powers. Did you feel this way when you gave them to your Warrior Princess?

Swallowing her misgivings, Lao Ma gestured to the shelf. “Choose another object, then.”

Kael returned to the shelf and chose a delicate glass vase, flowers painstakingly painted around the barrel. She returned to the table, and after clearing the top of the glass fragments, set the vase carefully in the middle. “Ok. What’s next?”

Despite herself, the smaller woman couldn’t help smiling. “Next? Try to break it.”

Kael scowled. Then she stepped away from the table and relaxed her body in conscious imitation of her mentor. She stared at the vase, concentrating her mental effort, willing the glass to shatter as it had for Lao Ma.

It sat there, staring impudently at her, refusing to so much as tremble.

If vases could laugh, this one would be doing so.

Lao Ma, under no such constraints, laughed lightly, the sound muffled by her hand over her mouth.

Kael scowled again, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. “What’s so funny,” she ground out.

“This exercise is about losing your will, Kael, not about using it as a battering ram.”

“Well what in the hell else am I supposed to do? Try a sneak attack??”

“Exactly!” Lao Ma exclaimed.

“Huh?”

“Kael, breaking the vase is not the goal for you.”

“It isn’t?”

“No. That is merely a side effect of sublimating your will and purifying your thoughts. It is the energy you need, not what it can destroy. The vase is just an object to let you know the energy is there.”

Kael rubbed her forehead, trying to take it all in. “So, in other words, the end point is the reception of the energy, not the destruction of the vase.”

The smaller woman’s smile broadened. “Perfectly stated.”

“And how do I get this energy? If the world is driven by a will, how do I lose mine?”

Walking over to join the tall American, Lao Ma laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Don’t try so hard. Here. Close your eyes.”

Kael closed her eyes, feeling the warm touch of Lao Ma’s small hand on her arm and smiling a bit. “What next?”

“Bring a vision into your mind, one, preferably non-violent, that makes you feel at peace with yourself. Do you have one of those?”

Kael frowned, but, surprisingly, the requested vision came easily. It was the beginning of her kiss with Lao Ma. At the moment when their lips touched and she felt energized …cleansed. It was, in her mind, the perfect moment. A slow smile spread her lips. “Yeah. I got one.”

“Good. Now, let that vision, and the feelings it evokes within, fill you, pushing everything else away. Become its vessel. Feel as it starts from the tips of your toes and travels through your body, filling you with that sense of peace. Can you do this?”

Nodding slightly, Kael concentrated on doing as she was asked, allowing the memory of that perfect kiss filter throughout her body, soothing her hurts, blunting her dark desires, curbing her will. It felt, almost, like a cocaine high, but without the chemical hangover. The energy she felt filling her up was intense, yet utterly pure and peaceful. “Yes,” she whispered, becoming a willing vessel to it.