A Swift Journey
Matthew felt revived after the elixir had healed him of the wound given to him by the Serpent. He shivered with the rush of elation of pure High Magic that had flooded his flesh and bones, his very spirit awakened like never before. He giggled as Wukong wrapped a warm blanket around him as he sat in front of the campfire. Magic still coursed through his soul like an endless tide, washing back and forth with electric pulses.
‘You were incredibly lucky!’ Bajie said with a worried expression. ‘We were out of ideas when the Heavenly Buddha came to your rescue.’
‘I should like to thank him personally, then, one day,’ Matthew said with a bright grin.
‘You may at that,’ Wukong said with a frown. ‘Just be careful not to offend the Almighty Buddha. He and I are still on uncertain terms ever since I …’
‘Ever since you what?’ Matthew asked with intrigue.
‘Never mind,’ Wukong said with a wave. ‘That is a tale for another day.’
‘I insist that you tell me now,’ Matthew said, pouting and crossing his arms, at which point Utredius poked his head out from the folds of Matthew’s blanket to chirrup at Wukong in a scolding manner.
‘You might as well get it out in the open, Wukong,’ Bajie said.
Wukong shrugged his shoulders then said with a sigh, ‘I killed off all of the last dragons.’
At this Utredius jumped up and down flapping his wings and singing like a canary.
‘Why would you do that?’ Matthew asked in shock.
‘It is a long tale to tell, Matthew,’ Wukong said. ‘But the long and short of it is, I had an old grudge with the King of Dragons and his Brothers. They had betrayed me, resulting in my death for a time, and so I sought revenge on them all.’
‘Did this outrage Buddha and the gods?’ Matthew asked.
‘It did indeed,’ Wukong admitted. ‘There is more to it than purely an act of revenge. I had learnt of the prophecies that state that the Return of the Ana’nitia depended upon dragons being alive at the time. I thought that if I acted out my revenge on the dragons, by wiping them from the face of the Earth, I might also stop a terrible prophecy from coming into being.’
‘Haven’t you ever heard of just trusting to fate?’ Matthew asked with jaw dropped.
‘I did what I thought was right at the time,’ Wukong said with a frown. ‘Do I regret my actions? Sure, I do. But you cannot change the past.’
‘Are you planning to murder my dragon?’ Matthew asked with eyes of horror.
‘No!’ Wukong insisted. ‘I know now that Utredius will be vital in our hopes of defeating the Vampire King. Utredius feeds your magic, and so as he grows in strength, so will you. We need you to be extremely powerful if you are to face the Ana’nitia. So, no, I will never harm Utredius, I swear it on my immortal soul.’
Utredius eyed Wukong with beak snapping like a long-necked raven, making a few squawking sounds before retreating to the folds of Matthew’s blanket.
After that disturbing news, Matthew ate a bowl of breakfast, then the three of them set out on their journey to meet this great ally of Wukong’s. The magnificent horse that Wukong had obtained from the Stables of the Jade Emperor had a silk coat that glistened in the morning sunlight. Its saddle and harness, bridle and reins were the colour of jade, and the horse was brown like the earth with a black mane and tail. Matthew was still reeling from the elixir, and felt ready to ride out, and so, when he was in the saddle, he kicked his heels into the flanks of the beast, and it took off like a fox on hunting day.
Wukong rode his magical cloud, with Bajie seated on a separate cloud behind him that was towed along with him. They moved closer to the ground to keep an eye on Matthew, and soon they were sweeping across the landscape like wraiths in a storm wind. The horse was agile and graceful with every step, and it seemed that Matthew was gliding more than riding as the horse moved at incredible speeds. He did not feel sick at all either. Cloud-soaring and travelling by boat always made him nauseous, but he had been riding horses for as long as he could remember. They would make a swift journey at the pace they were now setting, with Wukong often moving ahead of him to keep him on track like a floating compass.
At the end of the day, they made camp, started a fire, and ate some rice and vegetables with a little diced turkey meat that Bajie had stored in his Unfillable Satchel. Matthew was still a little upset about the story of Wukong and the dragons however, so rather than asking for another story, he rolled over in his blanket and went to sleep early.