Many apologies for taking so long with this update as this chapter with the myriad plotholes and twists I had conjured only made my job that much harder, particularly my obsessive attention to historical details. I feel that I should just stop trying to pinpoint a time in Chinese history when this story actually takes place. Because China has over 5-6,000 years of recorded history…yeah, I'm just going to take poetic license for this chapter. All I can say is that I did my best. Anachronisms away! Woo!
For the record, this chapter nearly killed me. It took me three weeks to write because of a bought of writer's block. But enough of my self-pity…Read and review, please! I'll have barricaded myself into my Happy Place in the event of backlash from this chapter. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, but I own the OCs and the text below. No stealing or I will hunt you down 0:-)
Memoirs of a Master
Chapter 16
"Okay, spill," Viper said once she had Tigress alone. The serpent had decreed that, now that the feline's illness was past, that a medicinal bath was just the thing to cheer her and ensure a speedier recovery. The snake had joined her, only because she feared getting sick as well, because being cold-blooded in winter sucked.
So there they were in the bath house, the steam from the hot water rising, clearing their senses, and sweating out the leftover toxins. Tigress took the cool compress off her forehead and stared across at her friend, "What do you mean?"
"You and Po, what's up there?"
"Viper, what are you talking about?"
"Oh come on, I noticed the way you were looking at him this morning. Something happened, didn't it?"
"No! Not really…it was minor, really small," she assured when she was given a no-nonsense look. "Okay fine, maybe we sat up and talked for a while last night."
"Just talked?"
"Yes, just talked. I apologized for…"
"For being a bitch the past few days?" she finished bluntly.
"Yes," the feline replied, sounding slightly annoyed, "and when we trained for a little bit this morning and…well a few things came out." She paused, then looked to Viper. "Do I really come off as cold to you?"
"Sometimes, but that's hardly your fault," Viper said philosophically. "You're a very guarded person, someone who's had to keep her emotions in check; though if you ask me, bottling everything up will backfire." To her surprise, the feline sighed and agreed,
"You're right…and it's strange. Normally, I will bottle everything up. I can't go crying to anyone…probably my pride keeps me from doing it. With Po…pride doesn't matter. I really get the feeling that he listens, you know?"
She did; she asked, "What did you say to him?"
"I'm not really comfortable saying…no offense to you, but it was hard enough telling one person."
Viper sighed and slithered from the bath to towel off. "Fine, don't tell me," she said, but it carried no hint of bitterness. She was used to Tigress being this way, why would she change after one night? But Viper paused and asked, "Do you like him?"
Tigress had to think of how best to answer it. Any answer given nonchalantly would give her the wrong idea, but…she had to be honest. "I think I'm starting to. I respected him before, because of his tenacity, but…I guess it's his soul, isn't it? He's just so accepting, and I don't need to pretend to be someone I'm not when I'm around him. And that's comforting. It's something I've needed for a long time. Why are you smiling like that?"
Viper truly was smiling, which at first, admittedly, had been more of a smirk. But she had never seen the feline so at peace. Not since they had started training together as children; by ten years of age, Tigress had already become as serious as a heart attack, and very little could get her to smile. But Viper had noticed it too, especially today…Po made her smile.
And that, she reasoned, was special.
Once Tigress was clean and dry, everyone settled into the kitchen—truly the warmest room in the bunkhouse—to pick up the sixteenth scroll. Tigress' hand reached first. When everyone else stared at her in mild surprise, she covered, "What? Everyone else here has narrated…it's my turn."
Getting an official summons from the Emperor himself is not something most people can brag. My family was already proud of me, and Yeying's family proud of her. Had we informed them of our plans to adopt, to expand our family, I'm sure their pride would never be surpassed. However, we had to put our lives on hold to serve our ruler.
However honored I was that the Emperor requested us by name, I was still rather annoyed. I wanted to have that family, and I wanted nothing more than to walk to Bao Gu with my wife and find that perfect little girl, or that rowdy little boy, take them home, feed, clothe and sing them to sleep at night. Somehow, oddly, in my imaginings I always saw our children as feline; you know what they say about hindsight.
Before we were to leave, Master Oogway lent us some weapons. I reprised my hold on the Sword of Heroes; Yeying was offered the Invisible Trident of Destiny, but she settled on a pudao wielded by one of the Tenshu Warriors. I have since been told that a woman wielding the weapon of a male martyr was sacrilege, especially if that martyr was a soldier from the Tenshu army. But to this day I swear I heard a whisper from the Urn of Whispering Warriors as Yeying picked up the pudao that had been on display beside it:
Hold fast, Sister, hold fast.
I asked her if she had heard anything; she claimed she didn't, but did mention an odd chill as she told hold of the weapon.
Before departing, our master offered one last round of sagely advice. He was as aware as the rest of us that Ren and Li had formed The Brotherhood of Heaven. He was aware that someone intended to do harm to the Emperor. He was also aware of my personal promise to Yeying.
"Rest assured, my friends," he said. "When you return, there will be a room waiting for your life's next greatest joy."
In our absence, he would put together a room for the child. All we had to do was swing by Bao Gu on the way home.
But he also gave us a warning, whispering as if the knowledge he was about to bestow was dangerous. I will never forget what he told us that day:
"Be forewarned, unspeakable evils reside in the Forbidden City, for nothing breeds evil faster than money and power. Alone, they breed vice. Together, they turn men into beasts, and corrupt angels into demons. I have raised you both to believe the best in people…but not there." He shook his head gravely. "Be prudent with whom you trust, and be diligent in what things you tell—never tell them anything personal, for they will use it against you.
"I have seen great emperors, I have seen bad emperors, and I have seen emperors that make me want to relocate to Mongolia—you are lucky that this one is one of the best I've seen in all my years. He is a dear friend, but all the same, because I can not make this journey with you, be careful what you say to him—while you are there, I can not protect you."
We took his advice very seriously. We had no idea how right he was.
Mortal eyes were not worthy to gaze upon what lay inside the Imperial Palace, and yet we, the five of us, friends since early childhood, would be blessed with laying eyes upon not just the interior of the most important political and holy place in our world…but also upon the most holy person, the Emperor himself! And truly the home he lived in—"palace" was too tame a term to describe it—was worthy of the magnificence of his rank. The vermillion red walls, I wagered, were nearly as thick as they were high, and the gates made of wood so thick, the tree to make it had to have been ancient indeed. The gables were higher than even the Jade Palace's, but I swore I saw similarities in the style of architecture…and I wondered, whether it was the Jade Palace modeled after the Imperial Palace, or the other way around?
Finding our way was quite difficult in the crowd. I was struck by how few women I saw. The ones I did see were being carried in sedan chairs by barefooted attendants, and their servant girls trailing behind them on foot. These ladies—even the servants—were exquisitely dressed, and I noticed with some consternation that my wife appeared to feel inadequate, picking at her sleeve uncomfortably.
I grasped her hand and kissed it, whispering to her, "I don't care how exquisitely they dress—you are a glorious phoenix amongst wretched crows."
"I've never seen anything like this before," she confessed, her tone betraying her reticence.
"In case you haven't noticed," I said, rolling up my sleeve and giving her a roguish wink, "It appears you're married to a common beggar compared to many of these men."
"Beggar, or village idiot?"
"Quiet you."
She giggled.
When we finally reached our destination, we had to stand back in awe.
In his letters, Dong Li had said Ren's tea shop and apothecary was quite popular…and he wasn't kidding. A boisterous line went out the door and around the corner. As it turned out, what we saw were servants collecting remedies for their masters; the tea shop was around the other side.
Ren certainly spared nothing on décor, if the cedar tables were any indication, with jade chandeliers overtop each one. Beeswax candles let off a warm glow, and the murals of lily ponds and lakes upon the walls instantly put one at peace. We had arrived on a slow night, as Li had called them, but you wouldn't have believed it if you could see the place. It was packed, and as many people were fitted to a table as possible.
The richer clientele snubbed us as we moved to the front of the line, one gentleman (and I use the term loosely) threatening to cane my wife for talking back to him. Yeying, naturally, ensured that he learned his lesson.
The commotion brought out a very familiar and very welcome face. Ren laughed loudly, grabbing Yeying before she could finish what she started on the simpering simian, "Haha, I thought that was you! Only one person I know who can throw a punch that echoes for the next five blocks!"
I wisely bit my lip to keep from laughing, and bowed, "Jian Ren, we're very sorry for the commotion…" he surprised me by sweeping me up into a hug.
"C'mon, Shifu, there're no more formalities between us! You are my 'brother-in-law', after all. Come on in, let me get you a table—gentlemen," he called back to those waiting in line, "Filial duty—family comes first, remember that…by the way, Commissioner Tang…why aren't you at home tonight?"
"Are you sure you're allowed to do that?" I hissed as he led us to the back. The Commissioner, a dog, was giving Ren an odd look.
"Don't worry, he knows me," he replied cryptically. He pushed us through two swinging doors into the kitchen of the place, which, though small, was a hum of activity. Five workers—and clearly, former soldiers—were mixing ingredients, measuring and brewing teas for their clients, the crocodile, another wolf, a lizard, boar and gorilla, carefully and painstakingly working as if performing surgery. The gorilla surprised me the most, rolling tiny green tea leaves into what he called "Chrysanthemum Tea"…a marvelous work of art that literally blossomed like the drink's namesake as it steeped. How he was able to do such a delicate act with such large, cumbersome fingers was a marvel.
There was a rabbit and a musk ox over in the corner with four or five abaci between them; the rabbit's ears twitched as she—for Ren was an equal-opportunity employer—dashed the abacus beads across the twine and made calculations in her head, muttering them to the musk ox, who recorded them in a ledger. A common garden snake was counting the money and throwing tips into jars for the respective wait staff. Further down, in the kitchen annex, was a bakery, where tea cakes and various other treats and sweets were being baked by one very familiar vulpine.
"Li!" I shouted, grinning widely.
He was almost unrecognizable, up to his elbows in flour, little bits of dough dried to his fur in patches. He didn't even bother to clean himself up as he hugged me, caking me with flour as well. "Hey stranger! How was the journey?"
"It was fair…waitaminute," I looked at him. "Wow…Li, you look great."
"Really?" Oh, it was an understatement. He had gained muscle, but not enough to look ridiculous on his small frame. He looked healthier than I had ever seen him—Yeying surmised it was the daily tea regimen he adhered to; he would outlive us all at that rate.
"Yeah, I mean… you are in great shape…"
"Easy, tiger," Ren teased, "That's my man you're ogling."
"With a body like that," Yeying said appreciatively, "Can you blame him?"
The wolf laughed, "Oh, hell no!"
Li blushed modestly, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, only smearing more flour there. "Yeah, well…you guys are just in time, I was about to pull something together for dinner. You guys don't mind? We have an extra room for you to stay in…"
"I know, you said so in your last letter," I said. "But since when have you been a baker?"
"Actually, I'm really good at making noodles and congee. I needed to pick up some kind of hobby, as it's not like I can practice kung fu with so little space," he said, not bothering to hide his disdain at the close quarters of urban development. "I miss the Jade Palace, it was a lot more open. But I don't think I could be anywhere else," he smiled warmly at his partner, who winked in return. "But," my fox friend continued, "I picked up baking from one of the old-timers who retired when Ren got his discharge. He's a great teacher, and a better cook."
"Where's Master Qiang?" my wife asked.
Li thumbed up the stairs behind him, "Either he's taking a nap or in the forge. He's come down with something lately, so we're being extra cautious."
"Forge?"
"Yeah. He needed a hobby, and it makes him happy."
"Good for him. How is his…condition?" I asked diplomatically. Ren nodded in understanding. "My establishment doesn't serve alcohol, we don't cook with it, or preserve anything with it. Completely dry. Mohinder's been great about Dad's treatment…"
"Mohinder?" I asked, slowly rolling the strange name off my tongue.
"Oh! That's right, I should introduce you…"
Li took our bags. "I'll throw these up in your room. Ochir arrived last night, he's over with Mo right now." He whispered to us, "I hardly recognized him. People seem to know who he is by reputation—he looks every inch 'Master Flying Rhino'."
And he wasn't kidding.
Ochir carried himself like a soldier, as he always had, but there was a distinct sharpness in his eye as if he studied every person he saw, measuring them up, eyeing each one as if he expected them to attack. Given his experiences on the trail, I hardly blamed his suspicious turn. What surprised us the most was what was on display beside him in his room.
It was plans for battle armor. He had drawn up his ideas, listed conditions based on durability and freedom of movement. As he poured over the parchments, brainstorming, I saw the look of intense concentration on his face, but he looked strangely distracted. No doubt Ren updating him on the intelligence "The Brotherhood" collected had only added to that distraction. But as soon as he saw us, he grinned and gave us the bone-crunching hug that he was well known for.
"Holy hell, you two look great! You gotta tell me your secret," he boomed in that thunderous voice of his.
"Training," I smirked.
"Smart ass."
"I am that…cretin."
We shared a laugh, clapping each other on the back. I punched his arm, "You should've visited more often!"
"I know, but I've been busy," he started ticking off his list on his hooves. "Had to quell a rebellion in Kaifeng, then this army from the south raised up a scare in Yunnan, and I had to go to the Manchurian border to help Shan…I've been all over the place."
"Where is Shan, by the way?"
"Didn't you know? He's one of the Emperor's bodyguards now."
Our jaws dropped. "Are you serious?" Yeying asked.
"Serious as a heart attack. He loves it. I ran into him when I arrived yesterday. He's never looked better, loves his job—couldn't get him to shut up about it—and word on the street is that the Emperor has never felt safer."
"That's wonderful!" she said. "I heard about him and Min Lung…"
"Oh, did you?" his tone betrayed something, something we didn't like. "How long ago did you hear?"
"Hear what?" Yeying asked. "Last we heard, they were soon to be engaged."
"Oh hell," he groaned, running a hand down his face.
"Ochir, what happened?" I asked worriedly.
"She turned him down."
"What?" That couldn't be possible. I swore up and down that she loved him as he loved her. "Why?"
"Beats the hell outta me. Shan was pretty silent on the matter—far as I know, they haven't spoken for a year."
He was interrupted by someone rounding the corner. Yeying and I gasped and took a few steps back in alarm. Whoever said snakes could only get so big…well, they obviously had never met an Indian King Cobra. He was easily six to seven feet long, a hood that extended a foot in length, and visible fangs that had to be at least five inches long. His sharp eyes were dark as jet, and austere, but we received the greatest shock when Ren introduced…
"Guys, this is Mohinder, the colleague I told you about. He was my regiment's surgeon and doctor, and his remedies could cure anything. Mohinder, this is Shifu and Yeying…"
This was a doctor?! He looked more ready to administer powerful venom in attack than to heal someone…but sure enough, the massive snake slithered up a stool and began measuring medicinal herbs. When he spoke, it was heavily accented, but…refined. "Ochir, here are your antibiotics, for that wound. It looks quite terrible, very terrible indeed; those weasels did a number on you, did they not? I do not know why you are looking at me that way," he said to us, glancing at my wife and I from the corner of his dark eyes. "I do not bite."
"Bullshit," Yeying told him.
His tight-lipped smile was the only indication of his amusement at the rebuttal. My initial assessment of this serpent was that, poor bedside manner aside…he was easily the best doctor I have ever known. His ability to diagnose and cure a patient had earned him the honor of being nominated for Imperial Physician…a position he turned down, partly because of his own humility, but mostly because he loathed the idea of being someone's slave. He much preferred serving the people, who he felt needed it much more than the Emperor…but that didn't mean he didn't do commissions on the side.
Afterwards, we retired to the dining area, where an addition had been modeled to seat all of Ren's employees—twenty in all—for their meals. Once I got to see everyone he oversaw, it was clear these were for the most part comrades who had resigned when he did. Some had nervous ticks no doubt a result of whatever horrors they had faced, others were stone-faced, while others, like Li, were the life of the party. Ren was quiet, as he had always been, but genuinely cared for each man and woman as if they were family. A sentiment that, once we saw Master Qiang, was shared by our friend's father.
Ren had made good on his promise after all, by affording his father more "children". Qiang treated every one of those employees as his own flesh and blood, earning him the moniker "Uncle Qiang", though some more audacious employees called him "Dad". Not all twenty lived in the house—only five, including Ren and Li, lived in the upstairs apartments: Mohinder, the lapin female accountant, and the gorilla I saw rolling tea leaves.
All twenty, as it turned out, made up The Brotherhood and secret task force.
Later that night, once the shop was closed and the rest of the employees left for their homes and families, Ren gathered the rest of us in the cellar, locked the doors and covered the windows. By the light of three candles, he took out his plans, notes, and other important documents from a hidden space inside a wall. Li brought out correspondence from people who worked inside the Imperial Palace, and Mohinder double-checked that there was no one to eavesdrop. Once everything was considered, we settled at the table and Ren filled us in on the recent developments.
"Borte's been keeping an eye on the Emperor for some time. His health is failing, and rapidly, which leads me to suspect someone's poisoning him."
Murmurs went around the table. Mohinder had an herbal catalogue open in front of him, his tail tip scanning each of any variety of poisons to determine the crucial ingredient. "It is unlikely he is being fed it—if his taste-testers have not fallen ill, it is my guess that the poison is going into his medicine."
"He takes medicine?" Yeying asked.
"He is slightly anemic, not horribly, but it is treatable," the cobra explained. "But I do not trust the physician he has now—not a trustworthy man, no, not at all."
"Borte's of the same mind," Ren nodded. "He's easily bought out."
"Bastard," Li sniffed, "Like he doesn't make enough already to live like a king!"
"Do we know who's behind the plot?" Ochir asked.
"I hate to admit it," the female hare said. "But I have strong reasons to suspect one of the Emperor's consorts."
"What would they have to gain, though?" Yeying asked. "To have one of their sons succeed the throne?"
"Hardly," the croc scoffed. "Once an emperor dies, all his consorts are 'retired' and most are sent to convents to remain celibate the rest of their lives; marrying another man is tantamount to adultery, and they can be executed for it. Only the Dowager Empress is allowed to remain in the palace. If a consort is part of the plot, it's likely she either has a death wish, or wants to avoid that fate."
"Yeah, well, you know what they say about Hell and scorned women," Qiang said despondently, nursing his second cup of tea. Yeying and I shared a significant look, and decided to discuss it later.
A quick succession of raps came to the locked and bolted door. The gorilla got up to see who it was, while the rest of the room was silent as a crypt. After a tense moment, the gorilla called through the door, "Two phoenixes in flight."
"We are a pair of mandarin ducks," came the answer from the outside.
"It's the Commissioner, let him in!" Ren said. The door was thrown open, and I was amazed to find the patron from earlier that evening. Commissioner Tang rushed in, looking nothing like the impressive courtier we had seen. He was dressed as a common laborer, the dog shedding the rough homespun cloak and dropping a sack onto the table, "I have urgent news! We have proof that one of the consorts is in on the plan, and that it is to follow through, tonight!"
"What?" Ren gaped.
"How?" Qiang wondered.
"My wife meets with the consorts for tea—here's the proof," he pulled out pieces of embroidery, the same thing over and over again. Embroidered birds on various pieces of cloth, surrounded by…
"Nu shu!" Yeying gasped.
"Nu what?"
My wife made a face at all of the men. I was quickly reminded that nu shu was a woman's script, and that most men either didn't bother to know it, or had no clue it even existed. Commissioner Tang, who took off the head kerchief to wipe at his brow, only nodded, "Thank goodness someone knows what it is. My wife told me their plot is detailed here. Can you read it?"
"I'm fluent," she replied, "Spread them out on the table, I'll see what I can get from it. Could someone get me some paper and ink?"
We rushed to meet with her demands, smoothing out the embroidered pieces so she could read them. The female hare stood over Yeying's shoulder, curious about the secret script, asking many questions about it. Mohinder, who, as a doctor, was naturally curious, was fascinated by the code, turning his head left, right, and upside down to decipher it. But when I looked over at Li, I could see the gears turning in his head, and a brilliant plan forming…
Soon Yeying was writing down notes in men's script, translating into common language, but even then most of the notes were confusing for us males. Most of the language of nu shu revolves around the "inner realm" of women, such as cooking, cleaning, chores, children, and issues of the home; the "outer realm" was the realm of men, which concerned politics, business and war. Many of the sayings that were constantly repeated in the embroidery were traditional for nu shu…and completely foreign for the rest of us. All told, the translations my wife made read almost like poetry.
The dragon flies over the phoenix. Why can the phoenix not fly higher?
I was married to a mandarin duck; he was a hawk in disguise.
Submissive and soft as a lamb, but the ewe is just as strong as the ram.
"What the hell…?" Qiang asked with narrowed eyes.
"Aw man, I hate poetry," Ochir muttered.
Yeying snapped, "Its not poetry, you blockheads! Shut up and listen; the proof is there!"
"Where?"
She rolled her blue eyes and pointed at a piece of embroidery with a brilliantly-colored phoenix flying underneath a golden five-clawed dragon. "The dragon flies over the phoenix. Why can the phoenix not fly higher? Don't you get it? The dragon is male. The phoenix is female. The Men have always 'flown' higher than the Women."
Looking over the pieces of embroidery, I noticed something else as she continued her observations.
"Birds…they're all birds."
Yeying's attention snapped back to the needlework on the table, and I watched her eyes widen. She was visibly thinking of scenarios, trying to put things together. "Exactly. All these women are saying they want to break free. Notice none of these birds are idle? They're all in flight."
"But where's the proof they're going to attack?"
"Here," Yeying said. Then her face visibly paled. "Great ancestors…"
"What? What?" I asked.
Suddenly her pale face turned red with rage. "There's a traitor in our midst."
"A traitor?"
She looked me in the eye. "Shan."
The stunned silence took us all, dragging us down and holding us prisoner. I couldn't believe it…I refused to believe it. So did Ochir.
"Impossible," he scoffed, shaking his head. "He has no reason…why would he hate the Emperor? What reason does he have? Are you sure you're reading that right?"
"Ochir, he's mentioned by name!" Yeying snapped. "Right there, it's the only men's script in the entire collection." Sure enough, when we looked, it was an italicized form of Shan's full name: Teacher Snow Mountain. Master Xue Shan.
"But that's no indication! What if he's one of their targets? He's the Emperor's bodyguard. There has to be some mistake."
Li's jaw was set, then he suddenly growled. "I knew it…I knew, from the moment I met him…"
I whirled on him. "You can't honestly believe that Shan would betray us!"
"Shifu, don't you get it?!" he argued. "Ever since he was still Zigsa, he has been in pursuit of justice for oppressed people!"
"The Emperor didn't suppress anyone!" I snapped.
"Yes he did," Qiang said sullenly. "Years ago, when you were too young to know about it. There was an uprising in the snow leopard clans to the west, and in the south near Tibet. The Emperor sent a delegation that quashed the rebellion, killed thousands, men, women and children. It drove the remaining clans underground—literally. To this day, I don't think the Emperor really trusts anyone."
"Then why hire Shan? If he's so suspicious of snow leopards, why hire one of them who might do him harm?"
"Perhaps he believes that since Shan's clan was completely decimated by plague, he has no reason to hate the Emperor, I don't know," Qiang said.
"We need to move, tonight," Li said. "If Shan really is a part of the plot, he's not going to wait much longer."
"But he's worked as a bodyguard for a year," Ochir said angrily. "If he really intended to do harm…"
"Do you deny that he's patient?!" Li snapped viciously at him. "I can't believe you all—his morals have always been questionable."
"He's sworn off fighting!"
"Since when? You fought by his side for years—did you not see his savagery?"
"That was in defense of the defenseless. Or have you forgotten I've done things I'm not proud of either?!" Ochir roared, rising in rage. His nostrils flared and he grunted animalistically—I knew he was likely to attack if provoked further.
Ren finally stepped in between them, "Knock it off! If the coup is to happen tonight, we need to move."
"But trespassing on the palace?" Mohinder asked, always the voice of reason. "What if we're wrong?"
"What if we're right?" Yeying asked. "It has to be tonight. Send in the ones who are best at stealth. We'll sneak in, find out what's going on, and if the coup is truly going to happen…we'll send a signal to the others."
"Then you need to move quickly," Qiang said, noting the late hour. "The witching hour is at hand, and we all know the worst evils happen in the dead of night…"
With that, Ren blew out the candles, the silent signal to prepare for war.
I will forever be amazed at the solitude and silence of deserted city streets in the middle of the night. The ones selected to infiltrate the palace were Li, Yeying and myself. Ren and the rest of the Brotherhood were rallying to meet at designated points around the palace, awaiting a signal flare to announce if the coup were indeed happening. If it were, it would begin at midnight.
The three of us skulked through the shadows, our blades and other weapons wrapped in gauze to prevent light reflecting off of them and giving us away. We were mostly silent the whole way to the gates. Li, who had spent most nights staking out the grounds, knew the schedule of the changing of the guard by heart. We were soon to arrive at that crucial point, sneak in, and discover what we could.
Ren informed us that if there was a coup, we were to set off three signal flares. If there was no coup, and we were wrong, I was to use the Sword of Heroes as a mirror to reflect the moonlight with a series of light signals.
In all, between the changing of the guard, we had five minutes to slip into the palace. Li had very little time to show us a map of the grounds. Yeying and I were to go to the Empress' quarters; Li would attend to the ministers and generals to see if the coup was military, as he believed.
As we hid in the shadows of the massive vermillion walls, I heard my wife sigh. "Something wrong?" I asked in hushed tones.
"I'm wondering how you feel about all of this," she said quietly.
"Nervous, worried…as I'm sure you are."
"I am. I wonder if we'll be good enough, or if we'll fail…"
"Yeying, we won't fail. Whatever it is we're facing, I'm sure we can handle it…"
"Shifu, I was talking about becoming parents."
"Oh." We shared an awkward silence. "I am worried about being a parent too," I assured her.
She sighed, "No, its okay, I get it. This is just how you are."
"What do you mean?"
"You always do this," she said with frustration. "Focus on a single task, one at a time…once you've got your mind set on something, its impossible to get you to think of something else."
"Well I'm sorry I'm putting my work first right now," I said. I regret that it sounded so harsh.
"Is this how you're going to be when we have kids?" she accused. "Is it always going to be work first, family later?"
"Why would you think that? Yeying, I just happen to be a little nervous about this possible assassination from within the Emperor's inner circle! Our ruler is depending on me to protect him."
"Us, Shifu, he's depending on us, and do you think I'm not nervous?"
"If you're nervous, then don't take it out on me!"
"You're taking it out on me too!" she hissed.
We glared at each other for a long moment, willing ourselves to calm down. Finally, she sighed and turned away from me.
"You're upset," I said.
"No, whatever gives you that idea?" she asked coldly.
"Yeying…" I hugged her from behind. "I'm not just nervous about the Emperor—I'm terrified. I'm terrified I'll fail him, and in doing so, lose you. After this is over, I'm terrified of adopting…what if I screw the kid up so much there's no hope? What if I make the same mistakes my parents made…"
"What mistakes? Shifu, you were raised by Master Oogway, and as for your parents, your brothers turned out alright…"
"I'm worried I won't do a good job."
She finally turned to look at me. I remember every detail of that moment. She was dressed in navy blue robes, her eyes shining in the light of the full moon. Though mindful of the task ahead of us, I was struck by how beautiful she looked. Her pudao was strapped across her shoulders, but I could still see a slight glint of the blade in nearby lantern light. If only I knew she was the last beautiful thing I would see that night…
"Shifu," she said firmly, still whispering. "You will make a great father. Do you want to know how I know?" she waited until I nodded, taking my hands, "I have seen how you are with your students, how you train them, discipline them, dare them to be the best they can be. They might resent you at first, but if not for you, they wouldn't be the great warriors they are today. You'll be a fantastic father, because even though you can be harsh sometimes, you still love those children, and would do anything to make them see their true potential. You love them, and you would do anything to help them reach that potential. A mother is someone who's supposed to be tender and sweet…"
"You won't be," I smirked.
"Oh hell no, if the little punk messes up, he's cutting his own switch for me to use!" she grinned wickedly. "And if that little girl wants to be a brat, oh, she'll get hers too!"
"How will you discipline her?"
"Embroidery."
I chuckled softly. Nearby, Li gave the signal, hissing, "Now isn't the best time to be having marital issues, can we talk about this when we get back? We have work to do." We spotted a tree by the wall, which we scaled easily. Li needed a little help, but once we got to the wall top, we saw we were just in time.
"You and Yeying head to the Empress' chambers. I'll go warn the General about the attack," he whispered.
"What about the Emperor?" I asked.
"He's got Shan there," Li said. "And we all know how dedicated Shan is to his work."
What Li failed to mention was that the Imperial Palace was a veritable rabbit's warren of hallways and halls, paths through impressive gardens we had no time to appreciate, and even a few secret passages. Yeying and I had great difficulty following Li's directions to the Empress' chambers. I wondered why the empress did not share chambers with her husband; it didn't occur to me that the Emperor had as many as one hundred concubines to choose from. All the most beautiful women in China were a part of his harem, and most never even got within fifty feet of him. Not that they necessarily wanted to.
I heard stories about the way most of them were treated in the past. The Emperor's father was unfortunately a very cruel one. One of his consorts gave him three girls, and was thus shunned, essentially exiled to her chambers. When he favored the sons of a lesser concubine, the scorned consort insulted that emperor, demanding if he even knew the names of his daughters. Incensed, he ordered the consort to commit suicide by hanging herself with a white scarf; it was an honorable death, apparently, at least when compared to decapitation.
The current Emperor, however, was the only son who survived to adulthood. Fortunately, he was the gentlest of nature, of fair mind and even fairer convictions. He had witnessed firsthand the treatment of his half-sisters and resolved to make their lives better. Some of them became advisors, others record-keepers, one was his treasurer. This naturally made him less than popular among his more traditional courtiers.
His Empress, on the other hand, was apparently a very bitter woman. Unintentionally, I assume, the Emperor had scorned her daughters…but with good reason. Those girls were spoiled rotten, and no good for any kind of work as they felt it was beneath them. Daughters of lesser consorts got the higher ranks in the palace, while these girls were shunned for their idleness.
Again, I didn't learn any of this until later.
Much to our luck, we spotted the Empress' personal attendants on their way to their mistress' quarters; we followed them, keeping to the shadows. Once we approached, we kept our distance and waited for the Empress to (rudely) dismiss the girls, who left hurriedly to escape the "old dragon's" wrath. Once alone, Yeying gave me a signal and we slipped into the inner sanctum.
We were taken aback by the splendor. We had never seen so much gold in our lives. The walls were inlaid with gold, painted in gold, with precious stones embedded in glorious mosaics. Our feet sank into plush carpets from faraway countries, but it cushioned our steps, making our already silent approach that much stealthier.
The Empress' canopied bed lay in front of us, and we caught a glimpse of her through a crimson veiled curtain. We stopped to eavesdrop; she was not alone.
"Everything is prepared for the Moon Festival?"
"Yes, your Ladyship, everything. The ingredient you ordered for his medicine has been in his daily dosage for the past ten days."
"As it should be. A pity he is close to death's door…" she said, with no hint of sorrow. She seemed rather happy for it. "And what of his guard? The snow leopard?"
"He won't be a problem. Taking him out will be the hardest part of the plot."
I glanced to Yeying; she was as pale as I probably was. My heart sank to my stomach, then leapt to my throat. Shan was going to be killed!
"How will he be dispatched?" the Empress asked.
"Should the poison fail—which it shouldn't—we will ambush him."
"Don't bother. A slit throat in the courtyard will suffice."
"The courtyard, madam?"
"Apparently blood is rather difficult to lift from carpet," she sniffed, "And I've always rather admired the one in my dear husband's quarters."
Yeying gritted her teeth and finally made her move, swiping her pudao and felling the assassin with one blow. The black-clad masked mercenary fell, dead, and Yeying twirled her weapon and held it at the Empress' throat. The aged tigress opened her mouth to call for guards but my wife pressed the sharp blade against her throat.
"I wouldn't try it," she growled. "One swipe, and your plot dies with you."
"Is that what you think?" the old woman chortled. I know its bad to speak ill of the dead, but I have never felt any fondness for her. She must have been very beautiful in her youth, but her face was in horrible shape, likely from the lead- and mercury-based cosmetics meant to keep her young. Her eyes were watery and yet cold as she curled her lip in disdain at my wife, though her fury was nothing compared to ours. We were supposed to protect her, and she—as Yeying suspected—was behind the plot.
"So I was right—I knew I wasn't reading the nu shu wrong."
"Good lord, you mean to tell me peasants are learning it now?" the queen sniffed.
"Watch who you're calling a peasant," I growled, drawing my sword. "We've known about the coup for some time, and now, its over."
The queen smiled, smirked wickedly, then cackled. "You think so? Oh no, Master Shifu…it has just begun. You are much too late. As we speak, my assassins are dispatching my husband and his pet, Master Xue Shan."
"What do you have against him?" I demanded. I meant Shan; she thought I meant the Emperor. She stood, her golden robes hanging off her too-thin frame, looking down upon me disdainfully.
"What have I against him? Have you any idea what he has done to me? I doubt this woman—Master Yeying, was it?—knows the pain I went through. How would you feel," she implored of my wife, "if your husband suddenly brought concubines into your marriage?"
"He wouldn't do that," Yeying said, still holding the pudao at the queen's throat. I was amazed that she didn't waver, despite her obviously treasonous act towards the queen. "My husband loves me."
"So he says. So all husbands say. But when that first wrinkle shows, my dear, forget it, he wants them young and beautiful, always fresh meat. You may only have two women to compete with in your entire life, one if you're lucky—I compete with five hundred! And my daughters, what have they to gain? I gave my husband three beautiful princesses and a Crown Prince and how does he thank me? By spurning my daughters," she raised her voice, taking bold steps forward, "and my son," and another step, "and giving the throne to an illegitimate bastard of a fifteen-year-old whore!" she finally shrieked.
"But no more, never again," she resolved. "Are you so curious as to my intentions? Master Yeying, surely you have felt the sting of men's utter disregard for our sex. Surely you know what we suffer every day of our lives…"
"Don't patronize me," my wife growled. "My husband knows as well as I do—"
"Does he?"
For a moment I swore I saw a flicker of doubt, but then it was gone. But that moment was all the Empress needed. She tore a hairpin from her hair and stabbed it into my wife's shoulder, taking her completely by surprise. I reacted too late, running to Yeying, halted only by one more extraordinary event.
The queen froze, looking down in amazement at the spear that now protruded through her middle. Behind her, someone dressed in black and red whispered in her ear, "This is the only thing traitors deserve. Consider yourself lucky that this is all I did to you."
With a hearty pull, Shan tore the spear from the Empress' quickly dying body and unceremoniously dropped her to the floor. He looked nothing like the snow leopard I had last seen ten years ago. He had bulked up, his muscles plainly evident beneath his black uniform with red trim; a symbolic four-clawed dragon was embroidered in red on the front of his shirt, and the wrappings around his wrists and ankles were also blood-red. He now sported a mustache and goatee, which gave him a rather more intimidating look than his smooth façade of yesteryears. He felt around blindly, finally placing his hand on my head and running his fingers over my ears. "Shifu?"
"Shan, thank the gods!" Yeying gasped, slowly pulling the hairpin out of her shoulder. He placed his hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?"
"I'll live," she said, tearing off her sleeve to wrap around the wound. "How did you survive the attack?"
"They almost got me with the poison," he admitted. "Lucky for me I spent the last ten years building up an immunity to most poisons—they didn't know that. They tried sneaking up on me afterwards, but I got 'em."
"You are a lucky son of a bitch," I shook my head in wonder. "How is the Emperor?"
The stricken look on his face was the only answer we needed, but he clarified, "I was too late…he's dead."
Yeying was glaring at him, her tone even, "The Emperor is dead?"
Shan nodded. "Murdered in his sleep. They tried to take both of us out at the same time—they saw me as the bigger threat…"
"You mean to tell me you left him alone?" she snapped.
"I didn't know about the coup! I didn't know about any of this!"
"Didn't Ren keep you posted on this?" I asked.
"Ren? What does Ren have to do…" he trailed off, stunned, then his face contorted into an ugly expression of rage. "You mean to tell me he knew about this, and didn't tell me?!"
"We didn't trust you." He turned his face to the doorway where Li stood, glaring at the snow leopard. "I have never trusted you, and my partner trusts my judgment."
"Li…" Yeying hissed.
"No! He needs to hear this, and so do you! I just came from the General's quarters—he's dead. The General, his entire family, his brothers…all the males, right down to his six-year-old grandson. And who do you think is responsible?"
He had to be lying, he had to be out of his mind. That was what I was thinking…until Shan chuckled.
"Alright, you caught me. How did you figure it out?"
Li growled, baring his fangs as he stepped forward, "The claw marks and the eviscerated corpses were good enough indication. And poison my ass," he snarled at the snow cat. "I saw the Emperor—I saw what you did. You snuck into his room, while he slept, and tore out his throat. The last thing he saw was you holding up your bloody claws."
"You can't pin that on me—any cat could have done that. There are thousands of them in this palace," Shan growled.
"Show me your claws," Li demanded. "Prove your innocence."
"I don't have to explain myself to you…"
I was willing to believe Shan up until that point. I knew that an innocent man would immediately try to prove his innocence. Shan didn't, he hesitated, defended himself. I thought I should feel sick, but I felt rage building up instead, and utter devastating betrayal.
Li drew an arrow from his quiver, notched it to his bow and pulled back on the twine, aiming right for Shan's heart. "Show them! Or I swear to the gods I will fire!"
"You don't have the nerve!" Shan mocked.
"Shan," my wife said sternly, silencing the room. Her tone betrayed in no uncertain terms that she was to be obeyed. "Show. Your. Claws. Now," she added when he hesitated. Slowly, sending a glare in Li's direction, he held his claws up, unsheathing them…
…to reveal dried blood, and I realized when reality set in with a sickening thud that the red bindings around his wrists and ankles had originally been white.
I was frozen to the spot, refusing to believe it, but then I reacted, pouncing and hurling the cat to the ground. Shan was too stunned to react, gasping as he felt the blade of the Sword of Heroes nicking the skin under his chin. I was far past fury, far past rage…there was not a single word or simple phrase to express what I was feeling.
"You bastard," I seethed. "You fucking son of a bitch! How could you? What the hell is wrong with you?! Admit it—confess! You were in on the Empress' plot!"
"Why the hell would I ally myself with that rotten piece of flesh? I feel for her plight and the plight of women all across China—Yeying 'opened my eyes', if you will."
She yelled. "Don't you dare drag me into this!"
"I'm not," he assured her. "In fact, I'm doing you a favor. The man who is to inherit the throne will continue the late Emperor's legacy…he will take revenge for all the wrongs done to my people."
I suddenly remembered Qiang's words from earlier that night. There was an uprising in the snow leopard clans to the west, and in the south near Tibet. The Emperor sent a delegation that quashed the rebellion, killed thousands, men, women and children… Perhaps he believes that since Shan's clan was completely decimated by plague, he has no reason to hate the Emperor.
But he did. He had never really changed. None of the time he spent with us meant anything. He had held on to his warped idea of justice by the sword, of an eye for an eye. He had killed men, women and children—the Emperor's entire family—in vengeance for a people he had never known. His family had died of plague, and he had never been faced with the specism that prevailed.
"So Li, it turns out you were right about me…and that I was wrong about you," he smirked. "I expected you to be happy."
"Happy? You want us to be proud of you, of what you did?!" I roared, pressing the blade against his throat. "I should kill you right here, murderer!"
"Go for it, we both know you don't have the nerve," he said. He was baiting me…and I waited too long. He acted quickly, punching me in the chest and propelling me back into the wall. Li finally fired his arrow, hitting the snow leopard in the thigh and causing him to buckle. Yeying came to my defense, guarding me while I struggled to catch my breath. "Are you alright, honey?"
I coughed, "I will be—what are we going to do?"
"What else can we do?" she asked. She looked at Shan sorrowfully for a moment, then her face hardened with determination. "We have to take him down—"
She was interrupted by a roar from outside and the smashing of the giant gates to the palace. Our backup had arrived.
Shan growled, then roared, charging at Li. Li crouched low and then jumped up, kicking the snow leopard in the face, then catching him by the collar and throwing him over his shoulder. Shan hit the ground hard, but hurled himself up to his feet, striking out and kicking Li's feet from under him. Li fell and Yeying jumped in to defend him. I was still winded, but slowly gaining my strength back. Outside, the battle cries of the warring armies roared, echoing off the palace walls.
Our backup had arrived too late. The Emperor was dead, the Empress was dead, the Emperor's entire family was dead. The dynasty had come to a bloody end, and someone we had trusted with our lives was responsible. And for what? Revenge, revenge by cold-blooded murder of innocent people. I felt the rage building in me. I had been right to doubt him all those years ago. There had been more to what he was telling us. He had lied, lied through his teeth, lied about everything. He claimed to do things he wasn't proud of…but he was. He had killed Huns; had he also killed children then, and women too? And he was proud of himself; he was proud he did it.
The killing of children was what did it for me. It wasn't just the principle, it was what it represented. If he could kill those children so easily…he would have no problem killing any child of mine.
I had no choice. I had to kill him. I had to kill him to save my family. The lives of my wife and our future children were on the line. I had never killed before…but I was prepared to do it now.
I yelled and charged, swiping the Sword of Heroes at his middle, opening up the tunic and slicing him open. Blood spurted from the wound, and he doubled over, clutching his stomach.
"Get out of here!" I yelled at Yeying and Li. "They need you outside!"
"Shifu, he'll kill you!" Li shouted.
"GET OUT THERE!" I shouted back. "Ren needs you, now GO!"
Faced with the possibility of losing the one he loved, Li raced to the window and leaped, scaling down and landing amid the fray below and hurling himself into combat.
Yeying came to my defense, barring Shan's way as he grabbed onto the staff of the pudao. Though seriously wounded, he was just as ferocious as ever. Yeying hissed and yanked the staff out of his grip and knocked him in the head with the blunt end. She rushed to my side, grasping my hand and kissed me deeply one last time.
"Don't you dare die on me," she demanded.
"I'll come back to you, I promise." I kissed her back, as long as I dared. "Be careful."
"I always am, my love." With that, she rushed to the same window and launched herself out, grabbing onto the eave and somersaulting her way down. I heard her battle cry, then set to work on my own battle.
Shan was crouching low to the ground, his fingertips sensing my movements. I crouched into a low stance, the Sword of Heroes poised over my head. We were sizing each other up, and I needed to end this quickly.
"So what was the catalyst?" I asked. "What convinced you?"
"What, to assassinate the Emperor?" he asked casually, as if we were having a decent conversation.
"You had everything going for you, Shan. You had a good job, a woman who loved you…what happened?"
"What happened…what happened?!" he snarled. "I'll tell you what happened! Tai Lee is what happened! Min Lung refused me because of him. I knew I should have brought her here sooner, I knew I should have married her when I had the chance—she left me for him."
"But she loved you."
"Bullshit! She didn't love me…she turned me down because—get this—'you wasn't the man I fell in love with'. I didn't change, she did. She was just as shallow as every other woman…couldn't stand to be with a blind man, so she went with someone beneath her! Oh, but her mother was thrilled, and wouldn't let me forget it. She always hated me, and is glad to have Tai Lee for a son-in-law! I could stomach it if she had waited, but no, as soon as she turned me down, she returned home and immediately married the son of a bitch!"
I gaped at him, "You killed off an entire clan to impress a woman?" as the shock wore off, I shook my head at him. "She was right…you aren't the man you used to be."
"I am twice the man I used to be!" he snapped, charging me. I jumped up and over his head, swiping the sword at him. He fell into a low split, kicking his leg out to trip me. I landed and kept moving, zigzagging to avoid his sharp, blood-stained claws. I let my guard down for one moment and he caught me, running his claws over my chest. I fell, rolling out of the way just in time to avoid the punch that left a crater in the floor.
I couldn't fight him like this. I was wounded; though he was in worse shape, he was still too powerful. This rage, the pain of rejection, the thirst for bloody vengeance, had only made him stronger.
I reiterate: foresight and I have never been very well acquainted.
I tried to wrack my brain for an answer as I defended myself. Shan left scratches on the blade from his claws, then suddenly grasped it in his hand, ignoring the blood that flowed from his palm. His other claw was raised to come down on my head.
My life flashed before my eyes.
And then I remembered the tournament, and the first time I had seen him fight.
I let go of the sword and threw myself down, sliding on my knees between his legs and propelling myself to the wall. I grabbed onto the curtains, determined to keep my feet off the floor. The battle outside had to be flooding his delicate hearing, the screams of fallen and dying soldiers cutting through the air. His sense of smell was flooded with the pungent odor of blood, and I'm sure he could taste it in the air as well. As long as my feet were off the ground…I was invisible to him.
I was the acorn, he was the tree, and now I was the axe that would cut him down. Red pandas were good at climbing, and I was going to take that for all it was worth.
"Don't do this, Shifu," he growled, turning in a circle, straining his ears and touching the ground, sensing for my movements. There was a hint of worry on his features, and he laughed nervously. "And I thought you were an honorable warrior," he sneered.
"The feeling's mutual," I growled and launched myself from the wall, kicking him soundly in the head. I landed on his shoulders, striking him again, jumping up to avoid the swing of his arm, then landed hard on his shoulders, shoving him down into the floor. He fell and I jumped off him, across the room and onto a tapestry on the opposite wall. I clawed my way along, jumping from place to place, skirting up to the rafters and hiding there. I spied the Sword of Heroes, lying forgotten on the floor; I could risk it, grab it, and end it now.
Shan was back on his feet, crawling along the floor, hastily searching and failing. "Damn you, fight back! Face me like a man!"
"What gives you the right to think you're a real man?" I sneered. I jumped out of the way as he launched himself up. Unfortunately, he was so distracted by the external stimuli that he hit his head on the rafter and fell, landing hard on his back. I took the chance, jumping from the rafters and somersaulting, grabbing the sword as my feet hit the ground. I climbed back up to another tapestry, waiting to see if Shan would come after me.
As soon as I turned, he was there, coming right for me.
I swung the sword out and stabbed forward.
Shan screamed as it pierced his shoulder.
I tore it out and slashed at his chest and face, jumping off the wall and kicked him hard enough to send him clear across the room. As he fell backwards, he tripped over the bodies of the dead empress and assassin. He lay prone on the floor; I wouldn't get a better chance. Zigzagging from one curtain to another, I landed next to him, holding the blade at his throat. He was panting, face screwed up in pain. Blood tinged his silvery eyes red, and a gurgling sound was coming from his throat. He coughed, spitting blood, "You don't have the nerve…"
"Watch me." The sword sliced clear across his throat. His body lurched as blood spurted from the wound, claws digging into the floor. I was fully prepared to wait until he expired, finally paying for his crimes. But I had more important things to worry about. I wiped the blade clean on his clothes, wishing for all the world that he could see the hated look I was giving him.
He just lay there, breathing shallowly. I turned away and ran towards the window. Once the battle was over, I would go back and finish him off if he wasn't already dead. I jumped onto the windowsill, and gaped at the scene in front of me.
What had once been a clear paved courtyard was now a bloodbath. The Brotherhood numbered more than I expected, a good few hundred. Unfortunately, those on the side of the rebels numbered too many. In the crowd I could clearly see Ochir taking on as many as twenty simultaneously, the fools falling to the axe he had armed himself with. I spotted Ren engaged in a ferocious swordfight with a lion, quickly dispatching the beast and moving on to the next opponent. Li was saving his arrows, opting instead for his twin short-swords. And Yeying was close by, swinging her pudao and easily severing body parts with a fierce light in her eyes.
I cast one last look at Shan's still body, and leapt out. I landed on the head of an Imperial soldier, knocking him down. I didn't wait for him to get up, hitting him in the head with my hilt. I clashed blades with a crocodile, saw an opening and took it, opening up his gut.
I hadn't known what Oogway meant by "shutting down" when in battle. To this day, I don't even know what I did exactly. My cognitive abilities shut down, and I just reacted. I didn't think about what I was doing at all. I let instinct take over, all my training now as natural as the inborn abilities of my species. All I remember are kicks, punches, screams as I stabbed and slashed, bodies crumpling to the ground.
Then I was by the side of a huge rhino, whom I recognized immediately.
"Master Terbish?"
He glared down at me, then his gaze softened when he recognized me. "Fu, was it?"
"Its Shifu now," I told him, sweeping my leg out to trip a lizard and struck him soundly.
"You're my son's friend, right?" he asked, punching a tiger in the gut so hard the cat fell dead instantly.
"I am. Isn't there a better time to…"
"No," he glared. "Look around you, Shifu. We're losing."
I snapped out of it long enough to see he was telling the truth. So far, of the hundreds that had come to defend our Emperor, less than one hundred still remained fighting. Among the crowd was everyone from Ren's shop, including Jian Qiang. It was the first time I had seen the old wolf in action since the tournament. When he had fought Shan back then, he was holding back. I didn't recognize the wolf at all from the ferocity of his attacks and the biting snarls and snapping jaws as he took down enemy after enemy. Like everyone else on our side, he was bathed in blood.
Qiang finally made it to us, the three of us standing back to back to fight. Qiang turned to me and ordered, "Get to Ren and Li! We need to retreat!"
"We can't surrender!" I screamed over the roar of battle.
"We're not going to," Terbish roared, slamming into a whole group of soldiers, who fell one by one to his fury. "Tell everyone to get out!"
"What about you?"
"We can handle them," Qiang said. "We've had worse, right Terbish?"
The old rhino chuckled, "Yeah, I remember. Last time we fought like this, Hong was with us, and Li too. That was a good battle."
"So is this one," the wolf grimly agreed. "Shifu, I'm not telling you again, get out."
Reluctantly, I obeyed. I don't think I need to elaborate: What they were planning was suicide. They intended to fight until their dying breath to give us the chance to live. As I turned to go, Terbish called back to me, "When you see Ochir…tell him I'm proud of him."
I nodded once and fought my way through the throng of soldiers, finally getting annoyed and jumping over their heads, hop-skipping by jumping across their heads and shoulders. A few ended up killing each other trying to swipe at me.
Yeying spotted me and called my name, beckoning me on. With one last burst of energy, I leapt, landing right next to her. She grabbed my hand, hers slippery with blood and yanked, "Come on, we gotta go!"
"Is it really lost?!"
"We have no choice! Ren's ordered a retreat—" she gasped in horror, as did everyone else on our team as we saw the outer gates slam closed. Imperial soldiers lined the ramparts, aiming crossbows at us. We were trapped.
Once again, I am the queen of cliffhangers. I expect some backlash from this chapter and the next one, but please, be kind. I like my kneecaps and my internal organs where they are…