With nearly a hundred soldiers and fifty clay men behind him, Sao watched anxiously as six soldiers slowly rolled a cannon towards the palace gates. The massive doors were crumpling inwards, thick splinters flying each time the elephant on the other side swung his hammer. They didn't have much time.
"Move it!" He shouted as the cannon was moved in front of the doors, in the hopes that it would keep the gates from falling away.
Hei Nuwang had arrived mere minutes ago, having regained her composure after the upsetting news of Long Feng's descent into madness and subsequent disappearance. The meeting had been brief and very one sided. Basically Hei Nuwang gave Sao two orders; deal with Ember's army and then hunt down Long Feng, and leave Ember and the creature to her. She'd left right after, leaving Sao to deal with the situation alone. That was fine by him. He'd decided some time ago that Hei Nuwang could go to hell for all he cared. He was through with being expendable. One way or another, he was leaving, and he was going to take as many surviving soldiers as he can with him.
There was a horrific crunching sound and the gates broke almost completely in half. The four pieces were stopped from falling away by the cannon. Maybe it would be enough. A second later Sao's hopes were dashed when the hinges snapped and the pieces tumbled over the cannon, leaving a massive gap where the gates had once stood. The enemy didn't hesitate for a second, and poured through like a tidal wave.
Sao roared the order he had given his men earlier, to retreat to the nearest escape passage while the clay men held back the enemy, drew his sword and lost himself in the ensuing chaos that would consume more than half the palace.
Po threw open the library door, saw the humongous battle in the courtyard, and threw the door shut again. He turned to face Xian, back against the door. "Okay. Front door's out."
"Were those civilians out there?" Xian demanded, fearful for his subjects.
"I'm more worried that their bodies are burning any weapon that touches them." Po replied. The door shook as something struck it, and the panda jumped back. "What did Ember do to them?!"
Xian paced on the spot. "We have to get to the guard tower... my family..."
"We will or I'll eat Crane's hat. Is there any other way out of here?" Po asked.
Xiang kept pacing as he thought. "Lanterns."
"I don't think Ember would make them scared of the light, your highness."
"Not light, you idiot! The rope line! All the buildings are connected by rope lines we hang lanterns from for festivals! There's one connecting this building to the tower!"
"Aw man, sweet! Let's go!"
They soon found the right window, on the second floor of the library. Below the windowsill, a thick rope was tied to a hook. It stretched all the way to a window on the tenth floor of the guard tower. Below, claymen, soldiers and civilians brawled in the garden that lay between the two buildings. In fact, every inch of the palace that they could see was being torn apart by battle. Calling it hell on earth didn't even come close to an accurate description.
"Come on. We need to get up there." Xian pointed to the window.
Po gestured for Xian to go first. "Age before beauty, right?" Xian blinked. Po lowered his paw and his head. "Sorry."
Nevertheless, Xian was the first to venture out. He grabbed the rope with both paws, hooked his legs, and began pulling himself along the rope.
Po told himself over and over to not look down as he too grabbed the rope with all four limbs and followed the tiger, but he caught one glimpse out the corner of his eye and found that it wasn't so bad. He quickly started climbing after Xian, finding it a little awesome that the emperor could ascend the sloping rope with ease despite not being a full time master.
Po kept climbing, keeping as quiet as possible so as not to alert the fighting men below, but he was having trouble keeping his shorter legs around the rope. He must look ridiculous. What would the soldiers think if they looked up and saw them, and saw a big round black and white thing dangling precariously from a little rope? Xian, on the other hand, would just look like a badass.
They were more than halfway to the higher window when Po felt a tiny vibration in the rope. He and Xian stopped and looked up, but the hook looked secure. They looked down, and Po's heart skipped a beat when he saw two soldiers at the window they had just climbed out from. One of them was hacking at the rope with a short sword. "Go!" Xian hissed. They picked up the pace, climbing as fast as they could. They were ten feet from the window when the rope went slack.
Po and Xian yelled and held on tight as the rope swung down, propelling them towards the guard tower wall. They had a second to brace themselves before they hit the hard wood head on, ninety-five feet from the battlefield below. Xian let out a sharp grunt and Po hit the wall shoulder first. The shock was so great his fingers slipped from the rope. In one millisecond Po's eyes widened, and his uninjured arm reached out and grabbed the one lifeline in reach: Xian's tail.
Xian let out a roar and barely managed to hold on to the rope, even with a two to three hundred pound bear nearly tearing off his fifth appendage. "PANDA!"
"Sorry!" Po yelled, his eyes watering. He soon forgot the pain when an arrow struck the wall inches from his eyes. From the other window, the soldier who hadn't cut the rope was aiming another arrow.
Something big and dark shot past the tower, dive bombing right through the window and into the two soldiers. Still dangling from Xian's tail, Po stared at the window, wondering what the heck had just happened, and then from out the window came Master Eagle Jr. He had several cuts on his body and his feathers were ruffled, but his massive wings carried him effortlessly towards the two damsels in distress. He stopped before them and hovered in mid-air. "Sorry I'm late. I had a run in with some statues that had been sculpted by someone who clearly had no taste."
"Master Eagle Jr.?!" Po yelled, grinning like a kid. "Aw man, that was the most awesome Dive Bomb of Dao I have ever-"
"WILL YOU GET THIS TEN TON WRECKING BALL OFF ME, PLEASE?"
"Of course, your highness." Eagle Jr. held out a leg for Po to grab onto.
In a blackened bedroom, Izumi stood as straight as a soldier despite her accumulated bruises and the fresh cut on her forehead, aware of the commotion outside but keeping her attention on the panther sitting on the charred bed. "Where is he, Izumi?"
"I haven't seen that cynical fool since the library. Either he's late or the creature gobbled him." Izumi said. "Forgive me, mistress. I tried to capture the creature, but-"
Hei Nuwang waved her black paw. A streak of amethyst shot out from the wall behind her. Izumi froze, feeling a rush of terror, but the tip merely touched her lips, silencing her. "The creature may have escaped your traps twice, but I do not hold you responsible for this mess. I thought that like you, Long Feng could keep his... instability... in check. But I was wrong. He has made one bad decision after another, and now I'm the only one who can fix this. If anyone has failed me, it's him."
Izumi bit the corners of her mouth to avoid looking smug. "So what are we going to do, mistress?"
Hei Nuwang seemed to ignored her, instead turning her head to glare out the window. "Listen to them."
Izumi listened to the fighting. "I hear them, my lady. After everything you told me about her, I didn't think that witch would need an army."
"She doesn't." Hei Nuwang stood up and strode to the window. She gripped the burnt windowsill with both paws, and immediately rich purple veins started to spread. "It took me months to rebuild my army after her accursed general killed off most of it. She formed one in mere hours. She's making a mockery of everything I've achieved." She turned away from the now completely crystallised wall. "But before the night is done she'll be singing a different tune."
"I'm looking forward to it. What's the plan?" Izumi asked.
"I am going to find the panda. Once I've done my business with him, I'm going after the creature myself."
"What shall I do?"
"I've summoned a company of clay men which are waiting for you below us. You are to use your tracking skills to find our royal prisoners if they haven't already escaped the palace. It wouldn't hurt to regain some leverage. Whether you find them or not, you come back here and wait until my return, We'll capture the creature together."
"Yes, your highness."
Hei Nuwang frowned suddenly. "Izumi, where is the dagger I gave you?"
Izumi's stomach plummeted, but she kept her dismay from showing on her face. "It was lost when the monster dropped a ton of crates on our heads."
She waited for the panther to explode. Hei Nuwang clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and pulled out another dagger. "No matter. I have a spare. Be a dear and keep looking for it, will you?"
Izumi watched her leave, feeling numb all over. Chibiki and the brutes that had trained and abused her during childhood had never been that forgiving.
Black water.
Water and darkness everywhere. The cold stabbed at Tigress like a thousand knives. Even colder were the beast's tendrils. They curled around her limbs, piercing her flesh and filling her with ice. All the warmth was being pulled out of her.
Tigress did the only thing she could. She fought back.
She pulled at the tendrils. She lashed out with the crystal dagger. She felt the dark blade hit the beast's tendrils and slice through them like butter. The tendrils seized and withdrew. Tigress sank like a rock the moment she was out of the creature's grip, never letting go of the dagger, ironically elated that Hei Nuwang and Izumi had been right.
Then the black water vanished. She felt through warm air and hit the floorboards, hard. Her ribs screamed and the air rushed out her lungs. Completely winded, Tigress could do nothing but gasp for breath as she stared up at the dripping wet shadow on the ceiling. She was probably the first and only person to be dragged in and make it out alive. As she slowly regained her breath, Tigress turned around and saw that she was no longer in the storeroom. She was now on the floor in the middle of the library.
The thought of Po and Emperor Xian still being close by gave her the strength to get up, even though her armoured disguise felt three times heavier than it did before she was dragged into the shadow. She quickly assessed her injuries, and decided that despite her aching ribs she could still fight.
Drip.
Tigress's ear twitched and she somersaulted sideways as the creature lunged, its claws missing her back by a whisker. She landed in a stance, never letting go of the dagger. The creature swiped at her again, and she rolled away. Black tendrils stabbed the boards, barely missing her as she got back to her feet. The creature straightened and turned to face her. Its tendrils reared like venomous snakes, two of them looking significantly shorter. Its glowing eyes were slits above its long snout.
Tigress was the closest to the doors, but she made no attempt to escape. Oogway and Shifu had both taught her that all enemies have a weakness, and she was holding the creature's weakness in her right hand. She had the crystal dagger and the experience of defeating dozens of supernatural beasts such as this one. She could do this. Besides, this thing had killed countless people, and nearly killed Po and Xian. Tigress knew she had to try and stop it here and now.
She stayed where she was, waiting for her opponent to make the first move. It did just that, lashing out with its claws to grab her. Tigress ducked under its arm and slashed its chest. She circled behind it. Slashed its side. The wounds bled. Not blood, but crystal clear water. Instead of muscle, she saw solid black ice. Tigress tried to strike its shoulder, but a tendril caught her wrist. It twisted, making her drop the dagger, and threw her back. She hit the floor, got up and stepped back.
The creature looked down at its injuries with curiosity. It had shown no pain from the attack. Tigress gritted her teeth behind her mouth cover. She would have to do better than that if she wanted to weaken it.
She couldn't see the dagger, and the creature was attacking again. Cursing, she swatted away its tendrils and punched its face, knocking its head back but failed to stun it. She spun to avoid an attempt to grab her, vaulted over the monster, and kicked it into a shelf. The wooden shelves splintered and scrolls rained down on them both. Tigress finally saw the crystal dagger lying on the floor nearby, and went to grab it while the creature was distracted.
It wasn't distracted enough. As she started to reach down, Tigress felt several icy tendrils close tightly around her neck, stopping her in her tracks, and begin to squeeze. Oh no.
She was partially aware of the creature slowly advancing on her as she pried at the tendrils. She could barely breathe. The dagger, she remembered. It was out of her reach. It was getting harder and harder to think, but then the fallen scrolls came to mind. The creature was nearly upon her. Tigress took one paw away from the tendrils and grabbed the one scroll within reach. She lashed the scroll, unrolling it and sending one wooden roller flying. It landed just behind the dagger. Come on... Tigress's vision doubled as she pulled. The roller caught the dagger, its momentum sending the weapon skidding across the floor until she could grab it. The creature was curling its claws around her body as she thrust the dagger into its chest.
The creature staggered back, the tendrils retreating with it. Tigress collapsed to the floor. In her dazed state she'd missed its heart. As she coughed, she pulled down her mouth cover to make breathing easier.
She heard the creature hiss. It was furious. Out the corner of her eye, she saw it crouch like a predator and advance again as she lay weakened on the floor. With a jolt of alarm she turned to face it.
The creature froze.
Its eyes, a second earlier narrowed in fury, had widened. Tigress stared back. What's wrong, she nearly asked. Why did you stop?
The creature backed away. It was leaving, Tigress realised. She stood up and went after it. She couldn't let it get away and heal. She was already too late. Before she could catch up to it, the creature slid into a shadowed wall and was gone.
No! Tigress sank her fist into the floorboards. She took deep breaths, telling herself that there would be other opportunities. With the creature gone for now, she had to focus on finding Po and Xian. "Po..." She whispered, her anger dissipating as she remembered him. She had to find that panda.
"Impressive."
Tigress stood bolt upright. Ember?!
She spun around to find herself face to face with the Dragon Empress.
