Side Story Arc: The Whispering Zephyrs and the Hidden Kingdom
Chapter 8: The Shadow Pact
The walk to the dry clearing was short, but it felt very long.
Commander Badu walked in the front. Jin and Suyin walked right behind him. The eleven other War Dogs walked in a circle around them. They moved through the thick, wet jungle without making a sound. Their black panther suits seemed to swallow the light of the sun.
Jin used his Air magic to keep his footsteps completely quiet. He pulled the air away from his boots so he would not step on a dry branch and make a loud crack. Suyin walked softly, her blue silk robes brushing gently against the large green fern leaves.
The jungle was incredibly hot. The air was heavy with water. Jin could feel the sweat dripping down his back. He looked at the War Dogs. They did not seem hot at all. Their sleek, dark metal suits kept them perfectly cool. It was another amazing piece of science from the hidden city.
Soon, they stepped into a small, open space.
It was a dry spot under a massive, old tree. The tree had huge roots that curled above the dirt like giant wooden snakes. The thick leaves high above blocked the hot sun, making the clearing dark and cool. There was no mud here, only dry, soft dirt and old brown leaves.
"Sit," Commander Badu said. He pointed to a large, flat tree root.
Badu did not put his panther helmet back on. His face was open and easy to see. He looked tired, but his eyes were very sharp. He looked like a man who carried a very heavy burden. Jin understood that look. He had seen the exact same look on the face of Ying Li, the leader of Ta Lo. It was the look of someone who had to protect their entire world.
Jin and Suyin sat down on the hard wooden root. They sat up very straight. They kept their hands resting gently on their knees so Badu could see they were not holding any magic weapons.
Badu sat down on another root across from them. The eleven guards did not sit. They spread out around the edges of the small clearing. They stood perfectly still, like black statues made of shadow. They kept their spears pointing at the ground, but they were ready to move in a single second.
For a long time, nobody spoke. The only sounds were the clicking of large beetles in the bushes and the soft breathing of the people in the clearing.
Badu watched them closely. He was studying their faces. He was studying their simple clothes.
"You say you come from a hidden mountain in the East," Badu finally said. His deep voice cut through the quiet jungle sounds. "You say you hide from the outside world, just like Wakanda hides. But words are very easy to say. A spy from America could learn to say those words. A spy from Russia could wear simple silk clothes."
"We do not care about America or Russia," Jin answered. He spoke slowly and clearly. "Their countries are very young. Our mountain has been hidden for hundreds and hundreds of years. Long before those countries even had names."
Suyin nodded her head. "We only care about our home. We call it Ta Lo. It is a place of peace. It is a place where we study the wind, the water, the earth, and the fire. We do not build factories that fill the sky with black smoke. We do not build loud machines."
Badu leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He looked at Suyin's hands.
"My guards in Berlin said you threw needles made of ice," Badu said. "They said the ice was colder than the deepest winter. And you, Jin. My guards said you created a wall of empty air that hit like a speeding truck. That is a very strange kind of peace."
"We love peace," Jin explained gently. "But we must be strong to protect it. Our world has monsters in it. We use our magic to keep the monsters away from our families. When your man dropped from the ceiling in the dark warehouse, we thought he was a monster. We thought his metal was a danger to our home. We only fought to protect our mountain."
Badu sighed. He looked down at the dry dirt for a moment. He understood exactly what Jin was saying. The people of Wakanda also loved peace. They loved their beautiful, shining city behind the energy wall. But they built deadly spears and powerful suits to make sure no one could ever take that peace away.
"My man in Berlin was a War Dog," Badu said. He looked back up at Jin. "His job is to watch the outside world. Just like you. He was sent to stop a bad man from selling a piece of our sacred metal to greedy soldiers. That metal belongs to Wakanda. It is called Vibranium. It fell from the stars a very long time ago. It must never fall into the hands of outsiders."
"We do not want your metal," Jin promised. He held his empty hands open. "We saw what it can do. It eats force. It eats sound. It is a very powerful tool. But we do not need it. We have our own tools. We only needed to know that you were not planning to use the metal to attack the rest of the world."
Badu let out a short, quiet laugh. "Attack the world? Why would we attack a world that is already destroying itself?"
Badu pointed a finger toward the north, in the direction of Europe and the cold countries beyond the sea.
"We watch them too," Badu said. His voice became dark and sad. "We watch the men in their gray suits. We watch their generals and their kings. They are blind and foolish. They dig up dirty rocks to burn for power. They poison their own rivers. And worst of all, they build bombs that can break the very dirt of the earth."
Jin and Suyin both looked at each other. They knew exactly what Badu was talking about.
"We have seen the bombs," Suyin whispered. A cold shiver ran down her arms, even in the hot jungle. She remembered the terrible test she had watched in the frozen north. "We saw the flash of light that burns hotter than the sun. We felt the poison rain that falls after the blast. The bomb makes the world sick."
"Yes," Badu agreed. He looked at Suyin with a new sense of respect. He realized that these strangers truly understood the danger. "They split the tiny pieces of the world apart to make fire. They call them atomic weapons. If they start a war with those bombs, they will burn the whole planet to ash. Wakanda hides because we do not want to be burned with them."
"Ta Lo hides for the exact same reason," Jin said. "Our elders saw the sky tear open with that terrible fire. They told us to watch. If the outside men destroy the world, our hidden mountain might be destroyed too. We are both watching a house that is on fire, and we are both hiding in the basement so we do not burn."
The small clearing became very quiet again. The truth of their words hung heavy in the wet air.
Two completely different empires. One empire built on ancient magic and the power of nature. One empire built on advanced science and metal from the stars. They were completely opposite in every way. But their greatest fear was exactly the same.
They were both terrified of normal, loud, messy humanity.
Badu stood up from the tree root. He walked slowly around the small clearing. He looked at his black-suited guards. He looked at the giant, invisible energy wall buzzing far behind the trees.
"If I let you live," Badu said slowly, turning his back to Jin and Suyin. "If I let you walk away from this jungle... you will go back to your hidden mountain. You will tell your elders about Wakanda. You will tell them about our energy shield and our Vibranium."
Jin did not lie. He nodded his head. "Yes. We must tell our leader. We must report what we have seen. That is our duty."
Badu turned around to face them. His eyes were hard. "And what will your leader do with that secret?"
"Our leader will write it down in an old book," Suyin answered honestly. "She will put the book in a dark room. And she will do absolutely nothing. Ta Lo does not conquer. We do not steal. Knowing you are here simply helps us sleep better at night. We know there is another strong kingdom watching the flames."
"Can I trust your word?" Badu asked. He stepped closer. "Can I trust that your people will not come back here with an army of magic warriors?"
"If we wanted a war, we would not have lowered our hands," Jin reminded him gently. "If we wanted a war, we would have let you shoot us, and our brothers would have come to avenge us. We want peace. We want you to stay in your jungle, and we want to stay on our mountain."
Badu stared into Jin's pale eyes. He searched for any sign of a trick. He found nothing but calm, quiet truth.
The Commander of the War Dogs made his decision.
"We have a common goal," Badu said. He stopped pacing and stood firmly in front of them. "We both want the outside world to stay completely blind. We want the men with their atomic bombs to think that magic is just a fairy tale, and that Wakanda is just a poor jungle full of farmers."
Badu held up his right hand. He held up one finger.
"We will make an agreement today," Badu said. His voice was official and strong. "It will not be written on paper. It will not be signed with ink. It will be a promise kept in the shadows. We will call it a Shadow Pact."
Jin stood up from the tree root. He stood tall and straight. He wanted to meet the Commander face to face.
Suyin stood up next to him. She smoothed her blue silk robes. She was ready to hear the rules of peace.
"Tell us the rules of the Pact," Jin said respectfully.
"Rule number one," Badu stated clearly. "You and your people will never return to this continent. You will never come near the borders of Wakanda again. If my guards ever see a man flying on the wind near our jungle, or a woman turning invisible in our trees, we will not ask questions. We will use our spears. We will kill you on sight."
Jin nodded his head once. It was a fair rule. Wakanda needed its borders to be completely safe.
"We accept this rule," Jin promised. "The Whispering Zephyrs will mark your jungle on our hidden maps. We will draw a wide circle around your home. No spy from Ta Lo will ever step foot inside that circle. We will leave you in perfect peace."
Badu lowered his first finger and held up a second finger.
"Rule number two," Badu continued. "The outside world is very large. My War Dogs travel to many cities to watch the bad men. Your spies also travel to many cities to watch. We will probably cross paths again, just like we did in the dark warehouse in Berlin."
"That is true," Suyin agreed. "The world is large, but the shadows are small. We will meet again."
"If we meet in the outside world," Badu said, looking very serious, "we must pretend we do not see each other. My War Dogs will not attack your magic spies. We will not try to capture you. We will ignore you completely."
"And what must we do?" Jin asked, though he already knew the answer.
"You must ignore my War Dogs," Badu told him. "If you see a man in a black panther suit stealing a piece of technology, you must turn around and walk away. If you see our invisible flying ships in the sky, you must close your eyes. We will not interfere with your missions, and you will not interfere with our missions."
Jin thought about this rule. It was a very smart idea. If the spies of Wakanda and the spies of Ta Lo kept fighting each other in the streets of Europe or America, someone would eventually see them. A normal human with a camera might take a picture of a magic ice whip or a glowing blue spear.
Fighting each other was the fastest way to expose both of their secrets to the world.
"We accept this rule as well," Jin said firmly. "We will be like two ghosts walking in the same haunted house. We will pass right through each other without making a sound. If we see your black suits, we will look the other way."
Badu slowly nodded his head. He looked relieved. A heavy weight seemed to lift off his strong shoulders. He had avoided a war with a magical empire, and he had protected the great secret of Wakanda.
"There is one last rule," Badu said. His voice became very quiet. "The most important rule of all."
Jin and Suyin leaned in slightly to listen.
"You must never speak the name of Wakanda to anyone outside your hidden mountain," Badu ordered. "You must never tell the Americans. You must never tell the Russians. You must keep the secret of the glowing purple wall and the Vibranium metal locked away in your old books forever."
"And you must never speak the name of Ta Lo," Suyin added. Her voice was just as serious as Badu's voice. "You must never tell the outside world that magic is real. You must never tell them that there are people who can control the wind and the water with their bare hands."
Badu looked at Suyin. He looked at Jin.
He held out his bare hand.
It was a very human gesture. A simple way to seal a promise between two men who had almost killed each other just an hour ago.
Jin looked at Badu's hand. He did not hesitate. He reached out and grabbed Badu's hand firmly. They shook hands. The grip was strong and warm. It was a bridge between science and magic.
"We have a Shadow Pact," Badu said.
"We have a Shadow Pact," Jin agreed.
Suyin stepped forward and placed her hand over theirs for just a brief second, sealing the promise with the honor of the Water Temple.
Badu let go of Jin's hand. He stepped back. He looked at the twelve guards standing around the clearing. He made another quick, sharp motion with his hand.
The guards instantly turned around. They did not say a word. They tapped the sides of their sleek black suits.
In a blink of an eye, the twelve guards vanished. The light bent around their advanced suits, making them completely invisible. They melted back into the deep, green shadows of the hot jungle. They were gone.
Badu reached up to his collar. He pressed the hidden button. The black panther helmet smoothly slid up from the collar, covering his face completely. The cold silver eyes glowed faintly in the dim light of the clearing.
"Do not stay in the jungle," the masked Commander said. His voice was muffled behind the heavy Vibranium metal. "Go back to your mountain, Watchers from the East. The world is getting louder every day. Hide well."
Before Jin or Suyin could reply, Badu took a step backward. The air around him shimmered like hot water. Then, he too was gone.
The clearing was completely empty. The standoff was over. The agreement was made.
Jin let out a very long, deep breath. He felt the tension leave his tired muscles. He looked at Suyin.
"They are incredible," Jin whispered. He looked at the spot where the Wakandan leader had just been standing. "They have built a fortress out of pure thought and metal. They are just as careful as we are."
"They are very dangerous," Suyin agreed. She looked up at the thick green leaves above them. "But they are not our enemies today. We did the right thing, Jin. We made peace."
"We must return home," Jin said. He looked up at the sky, trying to find the path of the high wind currents. "We must tell the Dragon what we have learned. The world is changing much faster than we thought."
Suyin nodded. She raised her hands and pulled the wet jungle moisture toward her body. The water wrapped around her silk robes. She bent the light carefully. In one second, the Water master vanished from the clearing, becoming nothing more than a trick of the light.
"I am ready," Suyin's invisible voice whispered.
Jin closed his eyes. He focused his mind on the air beneath his boots. He created the perfect empty vacuum spaces. He pulled the air away so his feet would never make a sound.
Then, he reached out with his mind and grabbed a tiny, invisible string in the fabric of the world. He hooked a spatial current, preparing to ride the folds of reality back across the giant ocean.
Jin stepped forward into the empty space.
The jungle clearing was left completely quiet. The hot African sun beat down on the mud. A small green lizard crawled over the tree root where the spies had just been sitting.
There was no sign that anyone had ever been there. There was no sign that the two greatest hidden empires in the history of the world had just met, fought, and made a promise to stay in the shadows forever.
The Whispering Zephyrs were gone, heading back to the East. The long journey home had begun.