Here we got chapter 8.
Hope you all will like it.
Han soldiers walk atop their makeshift walls and barricades in the Yungle pass. It had been days since the destruction of Thi-Dah and the stream of refugees had died down, though they still came, but not in the enormous amount during the Mongol's initial siege.
Captain Zhao from the anvil of the heaven is in charge at this moment in time. A thick fog had lied down on the pass. Occasionally, a few villagers walk through it, rushing to get to the makeshift wooden wall. The anvil guards let them through and ask them a few questions, and each time they get the same story.
Mongol soldiers were gathering in the border town of Thi-Dah, poised for the pass. The Mongols at this new camp were said to be led by Temujin's right hand-man, Timur. Zhao had in the past faced the warriors of the tiger's clan and knew what his opponent were capable off. He had even seen the tiger in battle. The khan fought with such ferocity that most of his men at the time, all veteran soldiers from other wars, lost their nerves and broke ranks seeing him swing his black-halberd.
Zhao shook his head.
"If the tiger attack now, would he easily get through"
A snort can be heard behind the captain. It is sergeant Lin, a bull from the city of Thi-Dah. He had been ordered by now King Teemutai the younger to aid with the defense of Yungle pass. The sergeant, a warrior by heart, did not like to serve under the anvil of the heaven, as he believed they failed to protect Thi-Dah, a contempt he held for all of the Chinese army.
"Only cowards think of defeat before a battle! When that tiger gets here, will I run my horns into his chest, personally!"
Zhao dismissed his words. He knew better that the bull did.
"I've heard enough already, go down and make sure the men are prepared, if what the refugees tells us, then Temujin will arrive here soon"
The bull snorted one more time, before leaving the rhino, walking down the stairs leading up to the wall.
Zhao shook his head at the bull, he knew the terrible might the Mongols had, yet he speak of them as if they were but a peasant rebel army. Madness.
Zhao suddenly saw movement in the fog. He had seen it before as refugees arrived, but something was odd this time. Normally they would arrive, very fast and followed by carts, these shadows stopped in the end of the fog. He suddenly heard a stretching sound and then a release. The release is followed by something whistling in the sky.
Zhao gasped, he immediately knew what was going on. He turned to his men and shouted as loud as he possibly could.
"Take cower!"
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of arrows suddenly flew out of the fog. All of the arrows had black metal tips, made in Thi-Dah to pierce wood and to some degree mail as well. Zhao hid behind the wall and watched as the arrows hit their marks all over the camp. Soon enough, Anvil and Thi-Dah soldiers lie on the ground, moaning in pain or not moving at all.
Suddenly a horn is blown and the sounds of thousand steps can be heard. They move slow at first, but then they move faster, and then they sprint. Zhao looks as he can see more than a thousand Mongols, snow leopard, tigers, wolfs, bulls and more storm their position. He focused his sight and cursed. He also spotted Manchurians in their army.
"We are under attack! Soldiers of Yungle pass to your stations! Anvil take the center, Thi-dah take the right flank, Han soldiers, take the left flank"
The captain then ran for the alarm bell of the camp, a rather small on made out of metal, ornate with jade. He quickly rings the bell, which sends the sound down the pass, where more bells wait, with people ready to send the sound down to Vachirs command center.
The captain smiled before turning back, drawing his Warhammer and charged into the fray, hoping to keep the enemy at bay for as long as he possibly can.
Meanwhile, the sound of the bells can be heard in Vachir's camp. The seasoned commander had woken up an hour earlier. At the sound of the bell, he immediately grabs his hammer and yells out for everyone to hear.
"Temujin has come! Come sons of middle kingdom! We must hold back the invaders!"
The furious five and Tai Lung, alarmed by all the motion, storm out of their tents, straight for Vachir. He is quick to greet them.
"The Mongols are attacking, go and make sure the barricade will hold!"
Tai lung nodded at the commander and immediately the six kung fu warriors' storm down the pass, faster than any of the soldiers could every catch up to.
"Mantis, Viper, you will take on the left flank, crane, monkey, right. Tigress, you and I will punch through the middle. Got it!" Tai Lung yells out to them all.
"Yes" they all yell in unison.
The group continues but pauses as they reach the battlefield.
It is total chaos.
The han soldiers, soldiers send from the nearby villages by the order of the emperor, fled at first contact with the enemy. This had allowed Manchurians to pass by the wall and strike into the flank of the anvil in the middle.
Meanwhile, the tigers of khan Timur had struck the Anvil in the center hard, the tigers fighting with more ferocity than most of the rhinos had ever seen before, one even picking up one of the anvil defenders and thrown him back to their lines, breaking their defensive formation.
The snow leopards from Mongolia, Temujin's own clan, had also been giving the Thi-dah soldiers trouble. They did not engage initially but hit them from afar with spears and arrows, before finally engaging the Thi-Dah soldiers with halberds and axes, seemingly very efficient against the army of buffaloes and bulls.
This triple pressure on all fronts had forced the defenders to pull back, which left a gap between them and the Mongol soldiers, a gap made intentionally. Volleys of black arrows flied from behind them and hit the mass of soldiers, killing more instantly.
"Go!" Tai Lung yells, sending all six master into motion against the Mongol horde.
Tai Lung and Tigress bounce forward, jumping over the anvil soldiers, and straight into the mess o of ferocious tiger warriors. They fight on, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, one part cowering the other, while dealing heavy and quick blows back to the tigers, primarily armed with swords and halberds.
Mantis and Viper also attacked the Manchurians on the left. Initially this had made the Manchurians, primarily tigers but also a few leopards, bears and bulls, stop to look down at the small masters. They were amused by the small masters, when suddenly mantis picked up the biggest of the Manchurian tigers and threw him over the wall. Viper coiled around another Manchu's hand and used it to beat himself with it.
Crane and monkey engaged the snow leopard of Temujin's clan. The primate had a staff in his hand, a weapon he could use to throw back the halberds the snow cats were using. Meanwhile Crane flew in from above, singling out target, diving into them, before kicking them around, further back into the line of charging Mongols.
The attacks of the five Kung fu masters broke the charge of the Mongol soldiers. This gave the anvil soldiers and Thi-Dah warriors a breathing space, which were used to reform their lines. They had lost so many they decided to unite their forces under Zhao. Their morale increased as they saw anvil soldiers arrive from behind them.
The Mongol archers reloaded their arrows and fired at the Kung Fu masters. Tai Lung breathed and struck out into the air at different arrows. The tip of his fingers hit the tip of the arrow, destroying them, sending out splinters instead. Tigress did her best to dodge the arrows, kicking and hitting some of the arrows back.
The two masters managed to deflect many of the arrows, but some of the arrows did hit their marks. One arrow though hit its mark, hitting Tai Lung in the shoulder.
The snow leopard master roared out in pain, sending the Kung fu master into a bestial frenzy. He leapt into the group of Mongol soldiers and with quick blows send them into the many enemies, spinning around on one leg, kicking the Mongols around. He roared as he fought the many combatants.
A black cloud started forming above the pass.
The kung fu masters did not notice it, but this formation of black clouds enraged the mongol warriors. The tigers swung their weapons swifter and with greater aim, landing several lands on their opponents, ending many more soldiers, pushing the Chinese defenders back.
The Kung fu masters felt as Khan Timur pushed forward, Tai Lung having to catch more halbers, snapping them with his paws, Tigress bashing more tigers in their chests, moving them backwards.
"They are pushing us back!" Tigress yelled at Tai Lung.
"Forward Anvil! Defend the middle kingdom!"
Suddenly a horn was blown behind the Chinese lines. Vachir and the anvil of the heaven had come to the defense of the pass. The rhino stormed the center with handful of his own men, bashing away the tigers with their great hammers.
This act broke the middle of the Mongol lines, sending the horde into a route. Vachir saw this and pushed his men forward, aiming to push them back to their own camp or at least back to Thi-Dah. The commander ran forward, quicker than anyone, leaving him open for some time.
A twang were heard from within the fog and arrows flew out, aimed for the rhino commander. The veteran rhino went to cover his face, but none of the arrows hit him. Infact he was no longer where he stood just before, he was up against the wall, with someone behind him.
Tai Lung had pushed the commander to the side and covered him with his own body, taking two more arrows to his back. The commander simply nodded at the snow leopard who turned back to the fog.
"We won this day Commander"
The rhino smirked at the snow cat patting him on the shoulder, which made him yell out in pain.
"We sure did, thanks to you and the five"
The commander turned to his men and raised his hammer in the sky.
"Today we showed the Mongols what happen when they attack the sons of the middle kingdom!"
Cheering followed.
Meanwhile the black clouds above were getting active. They were growing bigger and more violent. Most of the people down in the valley did not think much of it, but Tai Lung looked up, just as the cloud released upon them.
A thunderbolt was sent out from the cloud and hit the side of the mountain from several places. Rocks started to fall from the mountainsides. Tai Lung looked up and saw that there was no way he and Vachir could make it. The snow leopard sighed.
He gripped Vachir by the shoulders and threw him back to his own men. Vachir was safe. Tai Lung closed his eyes, accepting the end the gods had given him.
More and more rocks fell, burrowing anyone caught by them, capturing several soldiers and ruining the old fortifications of the hammer. A thick dust cloud formed around them, enveloping everyone in the pass.
Minutes passed as the cloud started to disperse.
"Start digging out our men. If anyone is wounded call out now! Anyone in need of immediate aid form up by me!"
Sergeant Ling yells out, gathering all who were wounded.
The five gathered, all five of them had managed to survive the battle, with minor to no damage. They all looked worried as none of them could see their snow cat leader. Vachir slowly walked over to them with a sad look and a sigh.
"Tai Lung fell to the rocks. He threw me back into safety at the cost of his own"
Shock were evident on the faces of all the five, especially Tigress. All five of them looked in the direction of the rocks. The falling rocks completely blocked the pass leading north to Thi-Dah.
"He... He can't be gone… can he?" Monkey asks as he looks around at the other members of the five.
"Doubt anyone can survive this monkey, not even Tai Lung" Mantis returns.
Viper slithers over to Tigress, the feline been silent since the news.
"Tigress…"
The tiger master shook her head and started to gather rocks at the spot.
"Tai Lung, as strong as he is, is not immortal... we will prepare his grave"
The other members nodded and helped the tiger master preparing a grave to the snow cat.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the rockslide, movement can be seen below the rocks. Suddenly a bloodied gray spotted arm punches itself outside of the rocks. Soon enough that arm becomes a whole body, slowly sliding outside of the rocks.
Tai Lung lives. Bruised but the snow leopard master still lives. He sighs and winces in pain, when suddenly a hand grips him by the neck, holding him high above the ground. It is a tiger that is holding him.
"You dare to fight your own people! Look at what you've done traitor! By Tengri I will end you now!"
The tiger moves his black claw to the leopards' throat, but a booming voice from behind prevents him. Tai Lung looks in the direction but his vision blurs, then goes black, the leopard master falling unconscious.
Meanwhile two Mongols are discussing his fate.
"Timur! Stand your claw!"
Temujin looks at the tower, glaring at him until he removes his paw from the leopard master.
"This traitor fought our men, defeated my clan and you order me not to kill him? I demand to know why!"
The tiger yelled at the leader of the Mongols. Temujin simply shook him off, acting as if he spoke to him in a normal tone.
"This one has potential. Lord Tengri handed him over to us for a reason. Put him back in my camp, I will tend him"
The tiger simply looks at the snow leopard growling but complies. He throws the snow leopard over his shoulder and walks back to the Mongol camp in Thi-Dah.
Meanwhile a Mongol captain walks up to Temujin and kneels. Several Mongol warriors join him, kneeling before their leader.
"Great Khan, we failed to take the pass. I am responsible for the attack. Punish me and not the others"
The Mongol khan puts a hand on the snow leopards' shoulder, before putting his hand below his chin, pushing him up to look at him directly.
"I knew you would fail here. Luckily for you, Kushluk, there are more than one way into China. Take your men north and scale the mountains. You will attack Yungle from other directions. I will send my son Tenzin south to raid the southern provinces, together you two will force the way to Zhongdu open"
The Mongol captain nodded and rose from the ground. He marched off, taking his soldiers with him, preparing for the journey their leader had just send them on.
The first victory goes to the Chinese, but who knows how the future will go.
And that is chapter 8. Read, review and tell me what you thought.