Master Liu's voice returned to my head, "Don't worry, son. We will protect you."
I nodded, again unaware whether he could tell or not, and murmured a meditation incantation to calm my racing heart.
I closed my eyes and tried to breathe slowly when the next lighting bolt struck the turtle's thick golden shell.
"Clack..."
"Buzz..."
"Rumble..."
I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and continued murmuring the meditation incantation. My heart was pounding in my ears. I felt my chest grow tight and the words of the incantation began to evade me.
"Xiao Yong!" Came Master Liu's voice, not in my head this time, but aloud. "Don't be afraid! Focus!"
I was beyond afraid. I was terrified.
I started the incantation again, missing words, cursing, and starting anew. My heart was galloping in my chest and each breath was full of raindrops. I was squeezing my eyes shut so tight that I began to see stars dancing in the darkness. All at once I couldn't breathe.
Sima Jie spoke then, "Xiao Yong, calm down. You are not the target of any of this. Face that, feel it, embrace it. Remember your training. Remember your Taoism."
I grit my teeth and tried to breathe slowly, murmuring the incantation again. "It's not working!" I thought, desperately. The stars in my eyes began to widen and pulse with my racing heart. "The ghost!" I thought at last. "I'll invite the green ghost!"
"No!" Came a shout, both inside and outside of my mind. It was Master Liu. "There is so much Yang air here, you cannot bring that spirit to this place!" He scolded, sounding like an angry god in the rain and thunder.
A well of fear began opening in my stomach. "I can't…" I thought, reeling as another lightning bolt struck the turtle.
I pulled out my jade necklace and whispered aloud. "Please…Please, I can't…" Images of Master Liu being struck by that lightning filled my head. Next was all of us being washed away in a torrent of water the size of a house. I saw the turtle being swallowed in black clouds in my mind. "Please!"
Another lightning bold struck the turtle's shell and it dropped the dragon scales. They landed onto the stone in a clatter. The turtle raised its head, blinking against the rain and began to screech a horrible hiss, "Ssssss…"
A crooked black gash shone where the last lightning had struck. The golden cloak of protection shimmered like weak glass. Master Liu and Sima Jie wore pale expressions of strain, but their hands were steady, guiding the golden light of protection onto it.
"Almost...there…" Sima Jie said, breathing like he was pulling a car up a mountain.
The great turtle nodded, its hissing fading into the sounds of rain. It raised his head, not bothering to pick up the dragon scales. Looking up, the turtle opened its mouth. A beam of golden light shot from it. As it did, the blackened crack on its shell disappeared.
I let out a gasp of relief. "It's doing it!" I thought in exaltation. Then the lightning struck again.
It hit with a blinding light that forced me to turn my head away. A dull ringing replaced the sound of rain and I realized that I couldn't see for a moment. I blinked away the flashing light and worked my jaw to rid my ears of the endless ringing. I was blind and deaf. I was lost in the storm alone.
"No, you're not." Master Liu's voice whispered in my head.
I blinked until I could see again. The turtle's golden shell now housed a series of black cracks from top to bottom. Beside me, Master Liu and Sima Jie were slumped against one another, hands no longer extended and all light extinguished.
I watched in horror as lightning streaked across the clouds above us. The turtle, now only protected by a cracked and beaten cloak of light looked up as well. Thunder rumbled in a horrendous boom and the last bolt came.
The turtle closed its eyes, glowing with every ounce of light it could muster. Master Liu and Sima Jie looked helplessly on. A screaming voice reached my ears and I realized it was mine. "No!"
The final bolt hit the turtle soundlessly, as if someone had muted the world. I watched the lightning's blue glow meet the golden cloak and the two merged. The entire turtle shone a brilliant white light that would have blinded me if I hadn't reached to cover my eyes. I felt the water around us rise until it was almost covering my knees.
Then the world was still.
Blinking the flash out of my eyes, I looked up. Standing atop the stone where the turtle had been was a golden boy. He looked down on the three of us and spoke in a voice that seemed to resonate from the sky. "Thank you."
I looked to Master Liu who was watching the boy from his slumped position. He had a slight smile on his face. The golden boy continued, "I will not forget you. I will mark your bodies with my power. Call on me, should you ever need."
The boy raised his hands and a golden light shot from them. The light shone through the rain and seemed to stop it. It illuminated Master Liu and Sima Jie, only for a moment, but that was enough.
"I must go now and find place for my new status." The boy spoke.
Master Liu and Sima Jie nodded in unison. All at once, the boy was gone. The Falling Dragon stone was cracked and empty, all except for the discarded dragon scales.
"You left your dragon scales!" I shouted at the emptiness. Rain pattered down on us in response.
"Take them." The boy's voice echoed from every direction. "I've no need for them now."
I looked to Master Liu and he nodded, gesturing towards the scales with his chin. "Get them." He said softly. The rain was fading as I clambered up the stone.
I reached the top and bent to pick up the scales. There were two of them, neatly fit together at the base by some kind of stone. They were each the size of a dinner plate, and quite heavy. "Are they powerful?" I called down to Master Liu.
He replied in a small voice, "About as powerful as a safety amulet now."
"Was that turtle brought here by the National Master?" I asked him, climbing down from the stone.
"Yes." Master Liu said, "We saw its story while we were connected to it by light." He closed his eyes while he spoke, as if seeing it all again. "The National Master came here in search of the dragon scales. After collecting them, he spent thousands and thousands of days generating supernatural air. When he died he became the turtle spirit and continued his efforts to become immortal. Today, he succeeded."
By the time Master Liu had finished speaking, the water rushing around him and Sima Jie had risen another six inches. He opened his eyes and stood up, shaking the water off himself as he did so. He held out a hand and helped Sima Jie up next. The old man's bald head was glistening with rain. His few long hairs stuck awkwardly to the back of his head.
We moved up the path we'd came, sloshing through the water where it was deepest, until we found a dry-ish place to rest. When we'd settled into the mud, Sima Jie asked, "How did you fair, Xiao Yong? Did you absorb any supernatural air?"
"I don't know." I said honestly. "I was so afraid we were going to die, I didn't even think about it."
Master Liu leaned close to me, "If you could hear the golden turtle, then you got at least some supernatural air. If not, you did not."
I nodded and showed him my best grin, "Then I got some! I heard him at the end there!"
Master Liu returned my grin.
Sima Jie looked at the drizzling rain and sighed. "We'll be very busy now. The rainbows are coming."
I followed his gaze and looked at the lightening sky. "Busy or not, we have to stop that ghost." I told them.