Her brother put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a bracing hug. “Kira, do you remember when you were nine years old and our father brought you to taekkyon training with the saulabi for the first time? Father had been boasting about how good you were for days. It was not the best idea, and even he admitted it later on. All the boys were resentful and determined to put you in your place.”
Kira nodded slowly. She’d been so intimidated by the mean remarks and nasty glares of the bigger boys that she had failed miserably in her first showing. She still remembered the mocking laughter that had followed her home that day.
“Do you remember what Father said to you?”
“He said that the only thing that can defeat me is my own fear,” she replied.
“And what happened the following week when you came in for your real training?”
Kira smiled. “I showed them.”
Her brother tapped her head lightly. “Yes, you did.”
The next time she’d gone with her father, she’d been determined to prove herself. No one could touch her that day. She’d sent several of the older boys home with more than bruised egos.
“There’s something very important that you have forgotten. It is not your tiger spirit that trained you to be a great saulabi, it was our father,” he reminded her. “You do a grave disservice to his memory when you disregard his words and let fear rule you. Now try again.”
Pride straightened her spine. What a fool she was! All those years of training with her father and brothers were what made her a warrior. Kyoung was right: she could not disrespect her father’s memory. It didn’t matter that she felt like a part of her had been ripped away. She was still General Kang’s only daughter. That would never change.
She returned to the basics, as her father had always trained her to do. Go through her taekkyon forms. As she practiced, her muscle memory kicked in. This was what she’d trained to do all her life. This was second nature to her. By the end of their training session, Kira felt a return of hope, a sense of renewed energy.
The next day, they returned to the practice area. This time her brothers brought a few soldiers. Kira recognized them as Kyoung’s most trusted officers. Men who had trained with him under their father.
Her brother had his men attack in hand-to-hand combat. First two, then three, and then five at a time. Not holding back.
She leaped into the air and came down hard on two of the men. The other two she swept off their feet with a scissor kick. Jumping back onto her feet, Kira grappled the last man onto his stomach. It took less than a minute for her to overcome them.
Without wasting any time, Kwan stepped forward, facing her with a staff for sword practice. He was one of the saulabi’s best swordsmen. He grinned wickedly at her.
“Been a long time since we had a go at each other, little sister,” he said. “Come on then. Let’s see how good you are now!”
As she took her fighter’s stance, a rush of adrenaline coursed through her blood, heightening her senses. It felt good to spar with her brother. He knew her movements and habits as well as she knew his. There were no secrets or surprises. Only staffs clanging in a furious tempo as the two siblings tried to exploit potential weaknesses. Kyoung finally called a draw when the second set of staffs was cracked.
At the end of the day, they were all breathing hard, all except for Kira.
“What have we learned today, little sister?” Kyoung asked.
“It was not my tiger spirit that made me a strong fighter,” she answered.
“So then, what have you lost?” Kyoung asked.
“I’ve lost my ability to sense demons,” she said. “I can’t see at night like I used to and I’ve lost my ability to heal from injury.”
“So you can’t see demons anymore, but can you still smell them?”
“I don’t know,” she said. Her sense of smell was still as acute as ever, but would it pick up the hidden demon odor?
“Now you can’t see in the dark like a cat, but you can still see perfectly fine otherwise, right?”
Kira agreed.
“I think the most difficult thing you’ve lost is your ability to heal. I’d always envied you that. But this doesn’t affect your fighting, right?”
She reluctantly agreed. “If I get hurt, I will recover slower.”
“And you’re still the best fighter I’ve ever seen,” Kyoung said. “There’s no one alive who can fight like you. Remember that.”
“I can’t jump as high as I used to. I’m not as strong either.”
Kyoung tapped her on her nose. “That depends on your perspective. You still jump higher than any man, and you’re stronger than most of these soldiers. Your special abilities were never of this world. They were gifts from the spirit world. You must now fight like a human, but you are still stronger, faster, smarter, and more agile than anyone I know. So what does this all mean?” he asked. “You can’t see humans possessed by demons, but you still might be able to smell them. You can’t see in the dark, but you can still see normally. And you will not be able to heal magically. I think you aren’t in as bad a position as you might have thought. Do not doubt yourself.”