Yenn leaped from the golden thrown onto the stairs, then bolted to the balcony with the speed of light -three pairs of legs were adequate to do so. There he stood on his lower pair of feet, having the middle one crossed around his torso and one of his upper legs toying a long whisker, that started from his upper jaw and covered most of his torso, between his sharp claws. He was a beautiful creature and lacked only height. Apart from that he was the perfect replica of those dragon statues one sees in temples such as the Jade Palace. Yenn narrowed his cat-shaped yellow eyes, with a long crimson strike as an iris. Behind him the characteristic noise of bird feet against the policed floor was heard. Yenn's right ear shot back, a perfectly shaped fin-like brow raising itself.
"What?" he merely whispered, in a voice that did not need volume to be commanding.
" The panda, sir. He and the peafowl have reached the peek of Tiger Mountain." The bird, whose vibrant colors and extraordinary tail were quite a sight, walked out of the shadows with the grace for which its kind is famous. The Dragon sniffed and left a mocking chuckle, before returning to the balcony view, something that interested him much more than his interlocutor.
"Sir I..." The fowl continued but was interrupted.
"I do not care, Feng," the Dragon preempted him, then turned around for the first time. The look on Feng's face was expressionless to the eye of an amateur, yet Yenn -an expert mind reader- could tell he was worried. "Relax," the Dragon reassured him. "Your sister is not going anywhere."
"But the prophecy..."
"You trust the saying of an old goat more than me, Phoenix?" Yenn's both eyebrows shot up, two perfect curves around his eyes.
"Master I don't!" Feng apologized, "But I'm afraid Master that Huang might exploit their coming to release herself and then she will claim me..." The Dragon stood silent, almost thoughtful, for a moment, then burst into a tremendous laughter.
"You amuse me, Feng. When I divided you and destroyed the Fenghuang, I made sure you, as a male that is, stored powers your sister does not currently posses. Even if the peacock does release her, something impossible since Tiger Mountain is a natural trap, you will fling yourself on her and finish this once and for all."
The Phoenix blinked in silence, while Yenn proceeded to an evil giggle -Feng had to admit it was scary.
"But Master...what if something goes wrong? I mean...the peacock will fight..."
This time the laughter came louder.
"HA HA HA! You YOU are afraid of a peacock? A common fowl with a fluffy tail and YOU, the Phoenix, a composing power of the Fenghuang, are afraid of it?"
Feng lowered his head, the bright red crest falling to the side.
"Fine," Yenn said when he stopped laughing, "Go end her now, then. Either way Huang was merely a decoy to keep the panda away." The Phoenix nodded, an evil smile developing on its proportional face. He turned around and made his way to the door, when he was interrupted.
"Oh, and Feng one more thing. Little do I care how you do it, just make sure you don't mess up, or else..." The fowl's wings flinched and he shrank away from the Dragon as the noise of claws marring the wall was heard.
It wasn't easy for Crane to find Tiger Mountain, let alone spot Po and Shen in this labyrinth of trees, that unfortunately for him were all similar to each other. He ended up wasting one whole day doing circles around the same area, when he noticed something shining in the distance. It was a fire pit, somewhere near the mountain top. From that distance he couldn't make out much, but took a lucky shot and dove down letting the wind carry him, as he was too tired to fight it. It took him five minutes to reach the mountain ground, during which the fire had been put off and therefore he had no clue which direction to follow. The air was getting stronger, so he couldn't soar to scan for it again. Restrained on ground level, Crane tried to navigate relying on his instincts and was lucky enough to stumble on a sleeping Shen. The peacock shot up and before he knew it, Crane was pinned against a tree, sharp claws wrapped around his thin neck. Shen moved his head left and right trying to recognize him, for he seemed awfully familiar.
"Crane?" Po was heard from behind the peacock.
"Don't come close," Shen said, still processing the bird's characteristics from up close, "It might be a trap."
"There's no trap," Po grabbed Shen by the shoulder and forcefully pushed him back. The peacock landed a few feet behind them. The panda took Crane in his big arms. "What are you doing here?" Po asked, unaware of the horrible answer he would receive. Though breathless, Crane mustered all his courage and answered.
"Yenn is in Gogmem. He has the master's council and Princess Fei. And he's planning to destroy the city!"
Po looked over his shoulders at Shen, who was still suspicious about Crane's sudden arrival, but now also shocked by the news.
"We must find the Fenghuang, Crane. First that and then..."
"You must come, Po," Crane went on, still gasping for air. He then lifted his hat with one wing and produced a small key. "This will undo your chain."
Po gazed at it puzzled, but was overhauled by Shen who jumped up and grabbed it before Crane could take it away. In less than a minute, the chain clanged open. Po was left speechless looking at it.
"But you..." he begun.
"I will find the Phoenix. You go be a hero, panda." Shen proudly passed them by then disappeared into the forest, his leg free to move away now.
"You do realize he won't even search for the bird, don't you?" Crane said, then blinked, as expressionless as always. Po knit his eyebrows.
"I trust him."
There was a silent moment, that would have been epic if it wasn't for the ridiculously serious look on the panda's face in contrast with the indifference on Crane's, as well as the voice of a cricket suddenly beginning to sound.
"No more crazy for you." Crane said as the two of them turned around and headed back to Gogmem.
Meanwhile Shen was in an inner battle with himself. There was the ambitious side, the one that wanted him to find the bird, then return to claim the city. Then there was his coward side which screamed for him to ran as far away as he could. There was the thinking side, he had already begun processing some way to exploit the Fenghuang. The vindictive one, all that mattered was his revenging Gogmem and that fool the panda. His charismatic-leader one, he did care for Gogmem deep inside. Finally, the one he kept most secret and chose to ignore most of the time; his sensitive side -and yes Shen did have one, everyone does, but he was capable enough of keeping it to himself. None of them, however, was what drove him to the cave entrance, further inside the mountain, for there was an unstoppable force that mesmerized him. It was that indefinite voice inside his head, one he had never knew before. Shen knew he wasn't crazy -or at least he not crazy enough- and could also tell magic from insanity. And this was definitely magic.
The cave before him was the entrance to a natural tunnel, that pierced the mountain from side to side. The majestic rock as well as the blue colored crevasses on it, resembled a natural temple, one of great importance judging from the precision on the curves and swirling designs. Shen entered the cave dazzled, ignoring the watchful fiery eyes that stalked him from a distance.
Once inside the cave, he browsed for some sort of lighting, and was more than surprised to find this had been as well taken care of by mother nature. Small lava fountains would occasionally spring from below him, and serve as light columns as well as guide him through the various twists and curves of the rock. There were also plumes of hot air that would explode out of the sides. Shen noticed they all took a certain time to blast, and when they stopped he could pass them easily. After almost an hour of walking, which to him had seemed like five minutes, Shen stumbled upon a group of blue butterflies flapping their wings around a small circle of wet grass. He took a closer look at it; ordinary grass.
Do you seek the Fire Queen? A melodic, female choir was heard. Shen jumped up and looked around.
Is it us you're looking for? Shen blinked as the group of butterflies headed toward him.
"Who...who are you?"
We're the guardians of this place,
make sure no one harms her Grace
"Who..who's grace?"
Have you not come for salvation?
Won't you end our anticipation?
"I...I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here for the Fenghuang..." Female giggles were heard.
Those who chose you have a fine taste,
come on, there's no time to waste
Ignoring the seemingly insulting comment, Shen followed the butterflies further into the tunnel and under a narrow passage, where he almost lost some tail feathers. Finally, they reached a vast room, with all sorts of natural traps one can imagine. Right in front of him was an infinite precipice, abyss shedding its darkness inside the wide gorge. For those daring enough to cross it, the trail continued with a wide lava pool, the only way to cross which was to hop on some frozen lava pieces that had turned into solid rock. Finally the trials ended with a couple of steep stair-like rocks, that seemed unstable and rocked back and forth. The reward, however, was beyond imagination. Shen could now clearly make out the enormous cage and the vibrant animal inside it; the bird. The Fenghuang, actually the Huang for Yenn had been smart enough to separate the two, something Shen was yet unaware of, but would soon find out.
Come to me Shen...
"Easy to say..." the peacock looked down at the abyss below his feet.
Come on go, her grace has called,
you must hurry to her...
"Shut up, I'm trying to think here!" The butterflies backed off, clearly insulted. Shen processed the situation for a moment. He could stay or try heading back outside the mountain. But he was so close to having Gogmem...so close to having his revenge. First Gogmem, then all of China, he thought. But then again there was that vixen, the Princess. Shen knew her kind of females, only cared about how colorful your tail is and were so skilled in the art of manipulation, that had you brain washed before you could even know. He had been too impetuous and took her promise without an actual proof of it. The worst part was, if he killed her as he had threatened to, he'd never get the throne. There was absolutely no way of forcing her to keep her promise, except for some psycological techniques that took time and skill, and Shen knew he was vulnerable against her. She had one great advantage; he was a male. Smarter enough to understand how the peafowl mating worked, yet not capable of ignoring his nature, which was to desperately seek attention and approval of females. He had forced himself to quit it, therefore was not vulnerable to the typical peahen walking around and waiting for him to show off. But Fei was a trained diplomat and it would be much harder to pretend with her.
Shen had already taken all this in mind when he jumped off the cliff and glided to the other side, using his tail. His sharp claws clutched the cliff edge at the last minute. He also had a brand new plot inside his head, one that would ensure him both Gogmem and his destiny. By the time he was crossing the lava pool, Shen had already considered an alternative, in case his first plan failed. And as he was jumping from stair to stair, each one bringing him closer to his reward, he had already convinced himself this game was his to win.
When he reached the cage, which was enormous with bars wrapped in ivory, all these thoughts disappeared.