The Yeti didn't realize he had lost the elixir until after he'd begun putting on his old suit of armor.
It wasn't the usual heavy armor worn by everyday soldiers of all ranks. It was basically regular black clothing laden with black and gold armor plates sewn into the thick material. The Yeti's thick skin and immense durability were more than a match for most weapons, but the suit served to protect vital areas such as organs and joints while at the same time being light enough for the wearer to utilize their agility, something the Yeti would need most of all.
When the Yeti realized that the elixir was lost, he wasn't as dismayed as most would be. The plan to enter the fortress and release Ember involved stealth and diversion, and if everything went as planned the elixir wouldn't be necessary. The suit, on the other hand, just like the massive blade was a precaution should the Yeti be forced to fight. With dozens of soldiers still remaining, his strength alone most likely wouldn't be enough.
The Yeti wondered how many kung fu warriors were still at the palace, then decided he would find out soon enough.
He strapped the blade to his back, picked up the copy of the Seal of Yingxiong and made one last stop: the room that bore the portrait of his mistress. He gazed up at the figure in the painting, filled with anger and regret. If only he had reached her in time… if only he had foreseen what the order would try to do… if only he had realized that Tujiu was a traitor before it was too late…
The Yeti tore away his gaze from the painting, instead turning his attention to the table below, where the two halves of the stone sat.
Despite himself, the Yeti smirked ruefully. Ember had gotten the last laugh in the end: just as the meddling warlord Shi'xie had never known, the order had never realized that the Eternal Ember, the powerful artifact that the Dragon Empress supposedly guarded, was just a worthless piece of rock.
After that horrific night, the city of Shambhala had been abandoned literally overnight. Without Ember's protection, there had been more than a chance that the order would locate and invade the city and plunder it for the Eternal Ember, which unknown to them had been nothing more than a diversion.
With hundreds of lives at risk there had been no other choice. Nearly a thousand citizens of Shambhala had departed, while the Yeti himself stayed behind. He had taken a vow many years ago to serve the empress, and no sinister organization was going to stop him. And now, after nearly three decades of watching over the fortress where the Dragon Empress and true treasure of Shambhala rested, it was time to set her free. And then their revenge could finally be completed.
There was, however, a small problem. Tujiu was still alive, and unless the Yeti was a horrible judge of character, then the mangy treacherous bird was probably scheming at this very moment, no doubt to finally do away with his fellows in the fortress and return to China as the 'last heroic survivor.' The Yeti wanted him dead more than anything, with the exception of Ember's release of course, but he knew that he couldn't strike the killing blow without her permission. She would undoubtedly want to kill him herself. That or make him suffer in humiliation at the hands of those he betrayed. Considering that bird's personality, she would probably choose the latter.
The Yeti wondered how she was going to inform them that Tujiu was about to try and kill them all.
They say that when one is feeling faint, the best thing to do was to put their head between their knees.
So it was unfortunate when Crane started to feel lightheaded.
It had happened very gradually. Five minutes ago, as he and his friends trudged through the snow, Crane had felt a small pain in his head, as if something had burrowed its way into his brain. He had dismissed it as a headache brought on by the cold, but then as the minutes passed the pain became stronger, became a literal weight in his head, and now he was one his butt in the middle of the cold snow in a very awkward position, breathing heavily, trying not to pass out. Mantis stood on a little rock, watching anxiously as a very worried Viper picked up a handful of snow with her tail and put it right on the avian's head.
"Crane, where in god's name did this fever come from?!" Viper hissed.
Crane didn't answer, eyes cast down towards the ground between his legs. His legs were splayed out like twigs, and as a bird it looked ridiculous.
Something was happening to his vision. Black was seeping in not around the edges, but everywhere in his peripheral sight. Something dark and heavy was swallowing up his surroundings, and Mantis and Viper didn't seem to notice. Something was happening to the snow lazily drifting down. The white snowflakes were beginning to glow a dark orange, like cinders. In his dizziness, Crane suddenly realized that Viper and Mantis were no longer by his side.
As the dizziness began to fade, Crane got back to his feet. He couldn't see a darn thing except the orange snow.
"Guys?" He called out.
"Viper?"
His eyes followed several of the glowing cinders as they touched the ground and disappeared. In their brief illumination, he saw hard stone ground.
"I'm not in the mood for this!" Crane shouted at nothing. "Cut it out! Where are they?"
He heard a snicker in the distance. It sounded familiar.
"Tujiu?"
Crane walked in the direction of the voice, lifting his feet so he didn't trip over anything. What was Tujiu doing out here?
Was it even Tujiu?
"I'm dreaming." Crane muttered. He was sweating. Whether or not it was the cinders, the air felt unbearably hot, as if he were surrounded by invisible fire. "I have to be… there's no way my brain could come up with something like this…"
Viper was freaking out.
One minute Crane was perfectly. And then another minute he was reeling, head between his knees. And now out of nowhere he was flat out on the frozen ground, shivering with a fever and mumbling nonsense words.
"Mantis, hurry up with that cloth!" She shrieked.
"I'm trying! This stupid snow won't melt fast enough!"
"For god's sake, give it to me!"
Viper snatched the cloth, partially damp with half melted snow, and carefully draped it over Crane's head.
"This isn't natural." She whispered to herself, heart racing and eyes shining wet. "I've checked his wing, and there's no infection. This is no ordinary fever."
"Viper, what are we gonna do?" Mantis asked. "It'll still take hours to get back to the fortress, and neither of us can just carry him!"
"Shut up and let me think!" Viper hissed.
She curled up her body in a coil as she thought hard. Crane continued to mutter, and every now and again she caught a word or two. 'Tujiu', 'dream' and 'Viper' were among them. That last word made her facial scales turn pink.
Crane, what's happening to you? She thought. Please let this be a normal fever. Please…
"Hey, I got it!" Mantis suddenly yelled.
Once he realized that the sled wouldn't take as many powder kegs as he had thought, the Yeti was forced to leave two by the door of the foundry. That wasn't too much of a problem, though: the explosion from those he was currently carrying in the sack would be more than enough to suit his purposes.
Holding the sack over his shoulder with one arm, and holding the wooden sled under the other, the Yeti strolled straight in the direction of the side passage out of the city.
Tonight was the night.
He felt a flash of malicious anticipation that wasn't his own. The container that kept her sustained all these years was slowly ceasing to function, as the estimated date of her revival drew near. The special needles that kept her rage in check were steadily sliding out, and soon she would express all the pain and anger that she had been feeling for so long.
Soon they would all suffer as she did.
"You. Can. Not. Be. Serious."
"Come on, Viper! It's the fastest way to get Crane back to the fortress!"
"No. No way. He'll kill you."
"It'll be a lot easier for me to carry him like this. Besides, I don't think he's in the condition to kill anybody."
Viper glared at the bug, but he had a point. With a sigh, she assisted in tying the feverish Crane to the walking stick as if he was about to be roasted on a spit. He showed no signs of discomfort, and this worried Viper. If it weren't for the fever and the mumbling, she would have assumed that he was in a coma. As she tied the last knot, she thought she saw a purple glint in his pants.
"There, got it!" Mantis hoisted the stick holding Crane up vertically like a spear, and the glint was gone. "You'll thank me later. Now let's get moving."
True to his word, Po carried Tigress all the way through the city, through the tunnel, and held her securely over his shoulder as he wall jumped back into the cave. Despite his fears, her stitches had remained intact.
Deeply asleep while under the effects of the elixir, Tigress didn't make a sound as Po cleared the lower narrow depression in the wall and laid Tigress inside it. Then he covered her in a thick blanket that matched the color of the rock wall and placed a second rolled up blanket beneath her head. She looked so beautiful and peaceful, and Po sincerely hoped that it meant she was having pleasant dreams.
Po relit the fire beneath the pot and waited for the water to start boiling. He still had a few ingredients left to make soup with. If he timed it right, it would be ready by the time Tigress awoke.
If she ever awoke at all.
Po scolded himself for thinking like that.
Just as the water was beginning to bubble, Po headed back to Tigress, carefully unwrapped her bandages and checked her stitches once more. A subtle change was happening to her injuries. Her skin, which hours before had been beginning to turn red around the edges, had returned to their normal color. The ends of the ragged slits were narrowing, as if the gashes were shrinking.
Po laughed a little. Whatever Tigress had ingested was working wonders.
"You're gonna be okay." Po stroked her head tenderly before returning to the campfire. The water was now bubbling very gently, not enough to spit.
Po was about to begin chopping when he had an idea. Tigress had been having nothing but soup since she woke up. Why not make her something a little more awesome to look forward to? While in the city's bodacious gardens, Po had seen crops amongst the produce. Why not harvest some, grind it into flour and make some dumpling dough? It would take a couple of hours to make enough, but Po had nothing better to do. Besides, he couldn't wait to see the look on Tigress's face when she woke up and found not only a bowl of soup waiting for her, but a dragon warrior size dumpling stuffed full of chives and white radish.
With a grin on his face, Po grabbed a wok and knife to collect the ingredients with and stood up. He retrieved the crossbow Monkey had given him and strapped it to his back. He picked up the lantern and opened the door in the floor.
"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" Po said to Tigress.
Once in the gardens, Po found the wheat in the southern area of the gardens. As he harvested the wheat until he was sure he had enough, he wondered if Monkey was still around. Though he still felt a little anger at what Monkey had done and the trouble he'd gotten them all into, he was definitely grateful to the primate for helping Tigress. Po hefted up the wok full of wheat and turned towards the nearest exit from the gardens.
The moment he saw the familiar large shadow, he flung himself into the field, hoping to the gods that the stalks were tall enough to conceal him.
The wheat tickled his legs and arms. Po clenched his teeth as he heard the familiar and unusually soft footsteps of the Yeti as it entered the garden. There was also a dull clunking sound, as if it was carrying something large and made of wood. He was both terrified and angry with himself. He should have considered that the Yeti was still in the city before venturing back inside. He didn't dare try to reach for the crossbow.
Amazingly, the Yeti didn't move in his direction. Instead it was heading away, towards the mountainside that made up part of the valley that concealed the city.
Didn't Monkey say that there was a secret side passage out of the city in that direction?
Taking a huge risk, Po peeked up over the wheat stalks. The Yeti was now fifty feet away, almost to the exit that led to the mountainside. He blinked at the sight of the black and gold armor it was now wearing, and the big-ass sword strapped to its back. It was carrying something wooden under its arm, and a large bag over its shoulder. That was all Po saw before it reached the exit and disappeared.
Po stood up, wok still in paw, trying to figure out what he had just seen.
A suit of armor… a giant sword that looked pretty awesome… to have that kind of stuff on you meant only one thing… the Yeti was getting ready for battle.
"The fortress." Po whispered. He took off like a shot, spilling the wheat as he ran.
His first thought was to get back to Tigress, but then he remembered the big blade. There was no way he could fight something like that without a weapon of his own.
Maybe the foundry… maybe I could make up one of this exploding throwing ball things and use its own weapons against it… Monkey, why did you hafta leave? We could have taken it on together…
Po reached the foundry within an hour. He skidded to a stop when he saw the two small barrels sitting just outside the entrance. Po sniffed a little of the black powder that had collected on top. It was the same powder that had been used in the cannons to ignite and fire the deadly flaming projectiles that Po had learned to redirect.
Fire. Projectiles.
Po looked at the barrels.
He unstrapped the crossbow and looked down at it.
He smiled.
This just might work.
Something was about to happen.
Colonel Sao could feel it in his gut.
He looked over at General Tujiu, who was chuckling a little in anticipation of what they were about to do. The vulture was pushing carefully at a concealed door in the wall that led into the tower, which served as storage. The plan was simple: wait for the Yeti to kill or injure the emperor or his friends, and if that failed, kill the emperor himself and make it appear as if the Yeti did it.
Sao knew better now than to question Tujiu's plans. The bird was a burning powder keg waiting to go off at the slightest nudge. But it was such a terrible and risky plan that Sao was tempted to just abandon him and focus on his own ulterior motives.
It was a shame. Ten years ago, Tujiu had been a brilliant strategist and excellent soldier.
How the mighty have fallen.
Sao shook his head in contempt, and turned his thoughts over to something else.
"All you have to do is…" Hei Nuwang paused with a tiny malicious grin. "Kidnap someone for me."
"Kidnap?" Sao was careful to keep his voice down as he stared into the mirror.
"Kidnap. I would prefer it if it was someone close to Xian or Shifu."
Sao gave a small huff. It was no secret that Hei Nuwang hated Xian and Shifu. Why she hated them, on the other hand was.
"Any other specifications?" Sao asked.
"Yes, and this is very important. As you know, three people have been touched by Ember in the past few days."
"Touched? I'm assuming you're talking about those sleepwalking incidents."
"Spot on. I want you to pick one and bring them to me."
"My lady, they are kung fu masters. I couldn't possibly…"
"Ah, ah, ah!" Hei Nuwang waved a finger. "Not all of them are masters!"
"Oh, yes, of course. My apologies. I will do as you ask."
"Good boy."
The mirror's image faded, and Sao was staring at himself once more.