The Kingdom of Roses

14

A Lesson in Archery

The morning dawned and the Red Phoenix was carefully put away from sight by Jiàn Shēng. The last thing he wanted was the Bride discovering what he had been up to. He needed to win back her favor and put the incident with Zhì Shēn behind them quickly.

He tried to return to his old, funny and mischievous self to distract all those around him. It was all a pretense that was obvious from the fact that the mark on his forehead remained as it was when the King first placed it on him. The Tiānshǐ saw the tent peg mark and remembered to stay connected with Jiàn Shēng. None of them gossiped about the incident that had transpired. All of them treated him as true brothers would. The ones closest to him enquired how he was doing and if he needed help so the mark could transform to a crown. While he saw it as an ugly blemish, they saw it as an opportunity for change and growth. It angered him. Especially since he was unwilling to let go of the obsession in his heart which he mistook for true love.

One day, the brothers had gathered at Xióng Zhǎn’s home after their duties in the realms. He wanted them to see a spectacular javelin he was working on. Zǐ Xīn, Ān Jìng, and Wěi Hóng loved the location of his home on the great cliff, with all its rocky highs and lows. They flew to the highest part of it, and were seated there admiring the view and enjoying the cool winds. Jiā Háo had found a little cave in the backyard and was exploring it along with Wáng Léi, both preferring to stay closer to the ground than their friends.

Yīng Fēng was rock climbing along the side of the cliff where Xióng Zhǎn’s cozy dwelling stood. Pèi Zhōng, Zhì Shēn, and Jiàn Shēng sat admiring the javelin along with their host.

‘The metal used to forge this is truly remarkable,’ Zhì Shēn commented. Indeed, it was a plain-looking but hardy metal that shone like brass. It had little fractures along its length that allowed any element to be infused into its core so that its use could be drastically altered from one duel to another.

Jiàn Shēng was quick to add, ‘If you want any special items from my store, let me know! You can use them for infusions.’

Xióng Zhǎn smiled and thanked him. He felt strongly for his brother for they were very close. He wanted Jiàn Shēng to truly put aside the past unhappiness and be successful in transforming the sign on his forehead.

‘How is your soul brother?’ he asked Jiàn Shēng. If anyone else had asked him, it would not have ended well. However, Jiàn Shēng was equally close to Xióng Zhǎn and permitted such an enquiry from him.

‘As good as can be expected for now,’ he lied. He was not about to reveal his restless pacing in the nights or his lack of rest. This had more to do with how he saw himself than how his brothers perceived him.

Xióng Zhǎn pressed on, ‘The mark, it is still present. The King promised you greater authority if you could overcome it. Have you found a way to be rid of it?’

‘Not really, but I am trying my best,’ Jiàn Shēng replied.

‘Maybe it has something to do with the foundational law of the heavens?’ Pèi Zhōng said thoughtfully. He was a very perceptive being. He was also right in this case.

Everything in the heavens was governed by this simple, foundational law. It involved perfecting love towards the Makers, towards oneself, towards one another, and towards all created beings in the realms. In fact, this was the only true law that governed the Kingdom. As long as everyone aligned with it, there was no need for any other law or enforcement. Hence, the boundaries of freedom one could enjoy were truly vast as it was well balanced with responsibility and exercise of justice and love.

‘Indeed, Pèi Zhōng is right,’ Zhì Shēn replied. ‘This being the case, it may be a good idea to use the Heaven Bow to help you,’ he told Jiàn Shēng. In fact, Zhì Shēn hoped for a lot more. He knew that his brother’s love was off-the-mark. It was inappropriate towards the Bride and this had caused his perfect love to become corrupted. As long as he did not correct the love within himself, the mark on his forehead would remain. It was this matter that he wanted to raise with Jiàn Shēng previously and now, he found an opportunity to do it as carefully as possible. He understood and valued what it meant to be his brother’s keeper.

Jiàn Shēng pondered over the suggestion thoughtfully. ‘Okay, I will give it a shot,’ he said resolutely.

He smiled within. The Heaven Bow was one he excelled at. No one could aim as truly as he did, and no one except the King and the Bride could pull the signature move he had learnt from them.

This bow was unique in many ways. It was a large, spirit bow which was actually made of two bows. These two were perpendicular to each other, such that one was fully horizontal, and the other fully vertical. Both were identical otherwise, beautifully curved along their upper and lower limbs. There were two notches along the upper limb and two along the lower, and one notch in the middle. The bows were joined together at the middle where this notch was and hence it lacked the usual grip. Each bow had its own string made of spider silk woven together.

The entire bow was held together much like how an umbrella is structured albeit without the fabric. The two bows had a shared shaft. They could be manipulated through a system of springs connected to a runner and joiner that the archer could use to pull back and release as required. The spider silk strings were strong, highly durable and held at perfect tension. In total, nine spirit arrows could be fired at the same time in a single shot - one from the center notch, two each from the top, bottom, left and right notches.

It could be simplified for the archer. Most preferred to use a single bow - either the vertical or the horizontal one. For obvious reasons, using the entire bow required far greater skill.

Complicating matters, the target was also an unusual challenge. Depending on whether you used the single or double bow, the target could be a single, stationary one, a larger stationary one, or a multi-target formation that was in constant revolving motion.

The target was made of concentric energy circles with the bullseye being a small, blue hole the size of a needle’s eye. When a spirit arrow went through this hole, it glowed blue indicating that the archer had cleared it. The other energy circles were the innermost gold, then silver, followed by bronze, and then the outermost copper toned ones.

Each energy circle had its own little ‘eye’ through which the arrow had to pass. That is why the stationary targets were easier. If you used the single horizontal bow, the eyes would align horizontally along the bullseye. If you used the single vertical bow, the eyes would align vertically.

The arrows shot through these eyes of the energy circles gained their hue and glow just like the blue, bullseye.

A revolving, full target would mean a formidable nine ‘eyes’ including the bullseye. The speed at which they moved was unpredictable.

Being slightly off the mark with even a single bow meant you would miss the target with all the others. The whole thing had more to do with precision shooting than speed.

If anyone’s love was a little imperfect in a particular area out of the four, that arrow would cause all the others to go off the mark. To hit bullseye, your aim had to be true in all the four areas of love. Many used this bow as a litmus test to learn where they lacked and to do better in that area. At some point of their own journey of life, everyone in the realms would try their hand at it as they felt the need within themselves.

Jiàn Shēng could hit the complete, revolving target without any trouble time after time. He was confident in his past victories and made his way to the open field where the Heaven Bow was located along with its various targets. There were others training with ordinary bows and arrows which were also present for duel practices.

That day, the King and the Bride were in the field watching the Tiānshǐ practicing. At some point, someone asked the King to show them how to use the Heaven Bow. He set up the simple, horizontal formation and was in the process of teaching them the principle of a true aim when Jiàn Shēng got there.

Seeing the Bride looking intensely at her beloved, infuriated Jiàn Shēng.

‘I am definitely better than him! He is just using the horizontal bow. Coward! Maybe he can no longer hit the entire moving target. I will show her who is better,’ he thought to himself. He did not notice the mark on his forehead spark and burn brighter.

‘Jiàn Shēng! You are here to practice? Wonderful choice!’ the Bride said happily as she caught sight of him approaching.

The King turned around and smiled in acknowledgment of him before returning to helping those who had sought his advice on improving their skills.

Jiàn Shēng smiled and walked up to the Bride and sat beside her for awhile. ‘Yes, what better than the Heaven Bow to help me with this?’ he said half-mockingly as he pointed to the mark on his head.

‘That mark is a chance for you to shine. It is not a mark of failure,’ she told him as she looked deeply into his eyes betraying her unspoken concern for him.

‘Oh yes, of course! Who does not want to rule? I will surely take my chance and grab such an opportunity,’ he joked without realizing the impact his own words would have on his heart much later.

‘Watch me! I got this!’ he said as he quickly placed a flower in her hair that he had picked earlier. He moved forward to the practice area before she could respond. He turned back to see her touching the flower and smiling back at him. He was glad she had accepted a little gift of his love though it was nothing like the blue opal carving he had made.

He asked the Tiānshǐ whom the King had been teaching earlier, if he could use the Heaven Bow. The former gladly gave it to him. Everyone knew that Jiàn Shēng had some serious skills in using it. Those present put aside their bows and gathered to watch him. Even the King stepped back and observed.

Jiàn Shēng extended the target formation to the complete, revolving one in order to display his signature move. He pulled on the Heaven Bow's vertical and horizontal strings after aligning all the nine spirit arrows. The target formation was moving at an erratic speed, sometimes fast and sometimes slow without a pattern to it. Jiàn Shēng checked his aim, all the arrows looked perfectly aligned as always. He knew hitting the bullseye was a piece of cake for him. He smiled proudly as he released the spring mechanism and the arrows whizzed through the air with the twang of the silk threads far behind them.

There was a hushed silence that contrasted the sound of clashing arrows upon the target. The spirit arrows dissipated as none found their mark. There was definitely no bullseye to celebrate this time. No one was more shocked than Jiàn Shēng himself. He ought not to have been shocked. The target had done what it was supposed to do. It had revealed where he lacked and he had to heed what it revealed if he wanted to perfect his aim. Instead, he took it as an affront that added to his shame.

He tried again, and again, and finally he tried with just the horizontal bow, and when a few rounds of it did not work, he switched to the vertical one and still failed. He did not dare look back at the Bride.

The King walked up behind him and gently spoke to him.

‘The external target is only a shadow. The true target is within your own heart. If love is aligned in your innermost parts, you will hit true as before,’ he said as he gently held his shoulder.

‘Hmmm, I got it. I will try again next time,’ Jiàn Shēng told him curtly without looking at him. He hated the King with all his heart. He could not be reconciled to it. In fact, he had started hating him as much as he loved the Bride. Such was the intensity.

He turned around without looking at the rest, and made his way down the opposite path to avoid the Bride. The way he handled it made it awkward for everyone else as well.

‘It is rigged. It is impossible for me to miss it! I always hit it before. He must have done something to embarrass me,’ he thought to himself.

Just then a roar of cheering broke out. He turned around to see that the Tiānshǐ who had been practicing earlier with the Heaven Bow had hit the complete moving target formation! He was shouting joyfully, ‘I did it! I did it!’ as he looked at the King with gratitude. He had heard the King’s counsel to Jiàn Shēng, closed his eyes, aligned his heart and aimed with eyes still firmly shut as he was moved with perfect love within. He hit all nine arrows and each glowed with the hue of their respective energy circles, including the bullseye.

‘That is impossible! How can such an ordinary Tiānshǐ have done it? Something is wrong. It is him! It is him! I hate him!’ Jiàn Shēng thought to himself with chagrin as he opened his wings and took to the skies that were kissed with the colorful glow of the evening transition in the realms. Everything was beautiful, untouched, unspoiled. The only gloom that descended was within the heart of Jiàn Shēng who refused to learn a simple lesson in archery.