No time for fancy kung fu.
Crane flung himself bodily at the mad vulture the second he lunged at the defenseless Xian, and the two birds slammed into the floor.
"Crane!" Viper cried, and she took the risk and uncurled herself from Xian's arm.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Tujiu rammed his new golden covered claws into Crane's injured wing. Crane cried out and rolled aside and Tujiu quickly got up, glaring eyes fixed on Xian.
"Hya!" Viper spun her body mid-air and smacked Tujiu across the face, knocking him backwards. She quickly returned to Xian's arm, half regretting her decision. Her body was by now slick with Xian's life blood.
Black feathers flew everywhere as Tujiu scrambled back up, cursing up a storm. His razor sharp metal claws clicked on the stone floor and he faced Xian again.
"You're not going to escape death this time, your highness." He sneered.
To Viper's amazement, Xian actually spoke, though his voice was faint and his expression was relaxed.
"Go to hell." He muttered.
"Not without you." Tujiu retorted, and advanced.
Luckily by that time Crane had recovered, and he quickly stepped up and blocked the vulture's path.
"Do you want to die too?!" Tujiu screamed.
Crane merely stood his ground, even as four puncture wounds dribbled blood down his broken wing.
Tujiu lost patience very quickly and attacked. Crane quickly deflected his deadly talons with his good wing and countered with a kick to Tujiu's chest. Tujiu cross his wings in front of his body, blocking the kick, and with a sweeping move struck Crane's injured wing once again with the top of his wing. Crane yelled, distracted, and Tujiu knocked him aside and advanced on Xian.
He stopped short at the sight of an elderly goose standing before the tiger, holding a massive cleaver in one wing and a carving knife in the other. On Xian's arm Viper pulled a small knife from beneath his torn vest and aimed it at Tujiu's throat.
"Try again." Di Tan spoke quietly. "I dare you."
Tujiu glared daggers at Di Tan and Viper. He glanced at Crane, who was getting up from the floor. He looked at Xian with hatred and longing.
"Damn you." He muttered.
He took off for the passage.
"Oh no you don't!" Crane took off in pursuit, and both avians disappeared through the passage.
"Crane, no!" Viper uncurled herself from Xian's arm and slithered after them. "Keep the pressure on his arm, Di Tan!"
Di Tan dropped his knives, grabbed his spare apron and tied the string around the spot on Xian's arm where Viper had been constricting it.
Su found the groove in the wall just as another, nastier sharp pain struck her head as she felt another crack. She squealed and doubled over in agony, and her eyes leaked anew.
"Owowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow…" She fell to her knees, clutching her head. Something about this pain was different. Earlier it felt like a porcelain plate connected to her brain was slowly cracking from the center, but now it felt like the pieces were slowly being forced outward, the widening cracks seeping more and more warm stuff. Something was about to give.
"What's happening to me?" She whimpered. She was scared, hurt and in a lot of pain, and if she didn't find a way out soon she was going to start screaming, she knew it.
Once the pain had almost completely passed, her paw found the groove again and she pulled. This door was bigger and far heavier than the last, and she soon found that she couldn't move it. She punched the wall with her good fist. She knew a couple of curse words, and muttered them under her breath as her head continued to hurt.
Then there was a scraping sound in the distance, and she froze.
"So this is where you went… I'm coming for you, you little brat!"
"Oh no." Su whispered. It was Sao.
Then she heard another scraping sound right at her feet, and she received a shock when the cold surface she was leaning against pushed back at her.
Su fell to the floor, and she felt the corner of the door brush by her foot.
Yes!
Su got up, found the edge of the door, and moved around it and through the doorway she couldn't see. She reached out with her paws. The bruised, bleeding paw found something that felt like a large metal pillar, though the metal was slightly warm. Then the pillar actually moved away and disappeared.
Su had no time to wonder what she had just touched before the pain struck her again. Whatever Ember had damaged was going break apart at any moment.
She staggered through the darkness. The floor seemed to be spinning beneath her. The pain got worse and her face got soaked with tears. A piece broke away and she fell to her knees. Her ears no longer seemed to be working. She could hear noises coming from behind her, but couldn't tell what they were.
She felt along the floor with her paws. Her paw fell on nothing and she nearly fell. She felt again and she found a step. She was at the top of a flight of stairs.
Should she go down again? Doing so would take her deeper, away from Shifu and the others, and likely into more danger. She hated the dark.
Ember.
Su saw her face, or more specifically the face of the dragon mask she was wearing. Everything else was pitch black, but Ember was perfectly visible. Now that Su could see her up close and in reality, she saw that the edges of her body were slightly blurred, and the rest of her was very slightly translucent.
"Are you…" Su whispered faintly. "Are you a ghost?"
Ember shook her head.
Then the thing in Su's head gave way and shattered.
Su's eyes widened and her mouth opened with a tiny gasp.
No pain. Just a sudden numbness in her head.
Her body stopped working and she fell to the floor and blacked out.
The last thing she remembered was being lifted from the floor with invisible hands.
For a moment, the Yeti thought he had felt something small and gentle touch the armor plating of his leg as he stepped through the door into the treasure room.
The room was as dark as the tomb he had just left, but it wouldn't be for long. He reached for the unlit torch on the wall next to the door, but didn't light it right away. He knew he wasn't alone in the room, and he wanted to get an idea of how many people there were and where they were before putting the light on.
He listened carefully. There was someone at the far side of the room, making a noise as he disturbed the precious metal objects that filled the room. He was cursing constantly, and seemed to be in no mood to be stealthy.
"Where are you… where are you, you stupid kid!"
It was Tujiu's right hand man, and he was looking for the little girl, which meant that she was also down here somewhere. The Yeti knew he had heard a child-like cry as he ascended the stairs. He listened, but he sensed the presence of no-one else in the room. She wasn't here. She must be elsewhere in the network of passages.
Why was Tujiu's henchman searching for her? It couldn't be to use her as a hostage, because there was no-one else around to use her against. Did Tujiu sent him to capture her?
The order. Of course. The order must have ordered them to capture her, otherwise they wouldn't consider her to be worth the bother. But why? She was just a child, and the order had their own super-genius.
Ember would want to know, and chances were she would be too busy right now to question the man herself.
The Yeti sheathed his blade. He wouldn't kill the treacherous dog right away.
He reached for the torch again, when another sound met his ears. The chirping sound of insect-like wings.
The praying mantis.
He kept still and silent, listening as Mantis quickly stifled his chirping wings. The Yeti wondered if he had been noticed, but no. He caught the faintest sound of a multitude of legs bouncing off a hollow metal object. Mantis was making his way over to the far noisier Sao.
For the next minute, there was no sound but the continuous clatter of the careless Sao. Then Sao yelled and there was a thump.
"Gaaarrrgh! What the hell-"
"Quit your whinin'!" Mantis must have him pinned down.
"Mantis!" There was a sudden change in Sao's tone. "Look, I can explain-"
"Su. You wanna tell me where Su is?"
"Screw you, shorty!"
There was a shriek of pain.
"Where… is… Su?" Mantis demanded. "Call me that again and I'll turn you into a lady!"
Sao panted for a few seconds.
The Yeti decided that if he was going to properly get the drop on the pair, he would have to get a little closer. There was another torch on the far wall that he could light.
Fortunately the ceiling was intricately patterned with a variety of deeply ingrained carvings, meaning that the ceiling was not only beautiful, it had plenty of handholds.
The Yeti leapt up and latched onto the ceiling, avoiding the piles of treasure completely, and quickly began making his way over to the other side of the room.
"Let's try this again." Mantis said. "Where's Su?"
"I don't know." Sao growled. His voice sounded muffled, as if his teeth were clenched. "I lost her in the passages."
"You what?"
"She-" There was a pause. "She knocked me out. When I came to, she was gone."
"Su knocked you out." Mantis said bluntly. "The seven year old little girl who's scared of heights and always avoids a fight."
"… Yes." The Yeti could imagine Sao cringing.
"Woah. And you definitely have no idea where she is."
"I swear on my own life!"
"Good. Question two. On our way here me and Shifu nearly got ripped apart by booby traps. You and Tujiu wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"
When Sao didn't answer right away, there was another shriek. By then Yeti was halfway across the ceiling.
"Yes, I set off the defense system!" Sao nearly screamed.
"I thought the defense system was in no condition to operate!"
"We lied!"
"How do we turn it off?"
"I can't… AAAAH! A CHAMBER! IN A CHAMBER THERE'S SEVERAL LEVERS FOR DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE FORTRESS! PUSH ALL OF THEM TO TURN THE TRAPS OFF!"
Pathetic, the Yeti thought.
"Where's the chamber?"
"Through that small door to your left! There's a passage that will take you to the chamber!"
"You better not be lying, scumbag."
The Yeti reached the intended space and dropped silently to the floor. He was now positioned directly between the second torch and his two adversaries. He reached with his claws for the stone wall just above the torch. One spark, then Mantis and Sao would be illuminated and then the Yeti would strike.
But then he heard another commotion coming from the direction he had just come from.
Oh, now what?
"What's that?" He heard Mantis ask.
They heard a voice.
"Crane!" It sounded like a woman.
"Viper!" Mantis said. "I'll take care of you, later!"
There was a ping sound, and the Yeti saw a brief rippling flash. Mantis had paralyzed Sao.
"Don't move." Mantis said. There was a chirping sound as he took off.
So much for two heads with one swing. The Yeti took his other hand off the hilt of his blade, almost disappointed.
He waited until he was sure that Mantis was no longer in the room before scratching the wall. Sparks flew and struck the torch below, and then the immediate area was illuminated. Sao was lying stiff on the floor ten meters away. His pupils dilated when he saw the Yeti.
"Oh no…" He whispered. He hadn't been completely paralyzed, for he could still move his head.
The Yeti stepped forward and lifted the fox with one hand.
"If you don't mind, I have a couple of questions myself."
Crane caught Tujiu just as they reached the sarcophagus room.
With a kick, Crane knocked Tujiu to the floor and then lunged, aiming for where he hoped the back of the vulture's head was. Tujiu quickly rolled over on the floor and blocked the kick, and Crane caught a tiny glint as he lashed out with his metal-covered talons. Crane quickly leaned back and the claws came short by inches.
"Crane!" He heard Viper cry as she entered the room after them.
"Stay back, Viper!" Crane yelled. "He's crazy!"
"It's pitch back in here! I'll try to find a light!"
He heard her slither swiftly along the floor.
A second later he felt Tujiu strike Crane's bandaged wing once again.
Crane yelled and staggered in the opposite direction. He heard Tujiu laugh cruelly.
"Not good. Not good at all. You can't possibly defeat me with that wing."
Crane's wing throbbed nastily.
"You had better think of something soon. After I kill you, the snake's next. And then I'm going after Xian." Tujiu spoke.
Crane forgot the pain and faced the direction of Tujiu's voice with defiance.
"The hell you will." He said.
He was met with a blow to his chest. He flew back and his back struck what he assumed to be one of the pillars.
"Crane, I've found a torch!" He heard Viper shout. "Hang on…"
There was a scratch, a spark, and then Crane could clearly see Tujiu flying at him, metal covered talons raised to strike.
Crane lifted both legs and his claws met Tujiu's talons just in time. Pinned to the column by the force of Tujiu's assault, Crane spotted Viper near the torch she had just lit.
"Crane! Hang on!" Viper leapt at Tujiu's back and struck him right between his shoulder blades. Tujiu was stunned for a second before retaliating with a wild swing of his wing. Viper landed on the floor, avoiding the blow, just as the far doors burst open and a green blur shot forward.
"Mantis?!" Crane exclaimed as Mantis knocked Tujiu's legs out from under him. Tujiu fell to the floor and Viper curled herself around his legs, preventing him from using his talons.
"Crane, get his wings!"
Crane quickly lunged and pinned Tujiu's wings. The vulture cursed over and over and struggled, but even in his maddened state he wasn't strong enough to free himself.
"Where's Su?" Viper yelled furiously. "Where is she?!"
"Get off me!" Tujiu shouted.
"What did you do to her?!"
Tujiu kept struggling.
"Viper, I don't think you're going to get anything out of him in this state." Crane said.
Viper hissed, but fell silent.
There was a pause as Crane and Viper held Tujiu. The enraged bird was struggling so furiously that holding him was a battle in itself.
"Thanks, Viper." Crane said in between his panting.
"I guess this makes us even." Viper gave a small smile. "I mean, when you saved me from that avalanche."
"Oh. You're welcome." Crane replied. Even in the torchlight, it was too dark for either of them to see the slight blush on their cheeks.
"Should I leave you two alone?" Mantis asked.
"I'll kill you!" Tujiu hollered. "I'll cut you up into little pieces!"
"Shut it." Viper said. "Mantis, I've spent the last hour or so wrapped around Xian's arm so he wouldn't bleed to death, and I'm still covered in blood. I suggest you quit before you start."
"Oh. Okay." Mantis's antennae drooped. "Wait, the emperor's hurt?!"
"Badly." Crane said. "He's up the stairs in the throne room with Di Tan. Go to him and keep him alive until we can get him a medic."
"Will do. By the way, I managed to capture Sao."
"You did?" Crane's heart leapt.
"Yeah, I paralyzed him and asked him a couple of questions."
"Was Su with him?" Viper asked anxiously.
"You're not gonna believe this, but apparently Su punched Sao in the face and-"
"She did what?!"
"-and ran off. She's somewhere in the passages."
Tujiu burst out laughing, but his captors ignored him.
"I'm going to go look for her!" Viper declared.
"Wait, there's more! Sao turned on the traps and the room where we can switch them off is through a small door in the treasure room." Mantis said. "By the way I've paralyzed Sao and he's in the treasure room."
"Great!" Crane said. He nearly lost his balance for a moment as Tujiu continued to struggle. "Mantis, can't you paralyze him?"
"He's struggling too much." Mantis said. "I could hit him in the wrong place and kill him."
"Wouldn't be much of a bummer." Crane muttered.
"Crane, Xian and Shifu will want him alive for questioning." Viper said.
"Fine. I'll hold Tujiu while Mantis checks on Xian and Di Tan. Viper, you check on Sao, then find the chamber Mantis mentioned and turn the traps off. Then you go look for Su."
"Okay. Be careful with him." Viper uncurled herself from Tujiu's legs and slithered through the doors. Crane quickly pinned his legs himself with one foot.
"See you in a bit, buddy." Mantis disappeared in the opposite direction.
As silence fell, Crane realized that Tujiu had stopped struggling. When he looked down, he saw the Tujiu was silently seething, and his eyes were fixed on the sarcophagus.
Crane blinked. The sarcophagus had been moved from its position, and in its original place was a set of stone stairs leading downwards. Crane felt a sense of foreboding at the sight.
"You know where that leads?" Crane asked.
Tujiu remained silent.
"Fine. Don't tell me."
Tujiu's wings were folded one on top of the other, and Crane held them firm.
"I know what you did, Tujiu." Crane went on, anger building up inside him. "You deliberately left a gap in the defenses so the enemy could sneak in and kill the royal family. Why did you do it, Tujiu?"
"Because I'm a general." Tujiu's voice stunned Crane. He had gone back to being eerily calm.
"And what's that got to do with it?" Crane demanded.
"You know what is most important to a general? Tujiu asked bluntly. "Power. Power is what an army represents, and it is the general's duty to ensure that his army is the most powerful in the world. To ensure that no matter the cost, no matter what assets you expend, you remain the dominant power on earth."
"And how would killing the emperor give you more power?" Crane snapped.
"By killing the emperor and all his heirs, and all the members of his royal consul, I would become the only one who could assume leadership of China. Then I could become one step closer to my goal."
"And what is your goal?" Crane tried his best to keep calm.
"Shambhala."
"You knew about Shambhala all along?"
"Shambhala possesses great secrets. Secrets that would ensure my place as the dominant power. With the power of the emperor's authority, I could find Shambhala, claim its secrets for my own, and then the possibilities could be endless."
"So basically you wanted to take over the world." Crane said, voice dripping with disgust. "So in the end, you're just another wannabe world conqueror."
Tujiu's eyes narrowed.
"The Eternal Ember. Is that what you're after?" Crane asked.
Tujiu chuckled.
"The Eternal Ember does not exist." He spoke. "It's just a rumor the inhabitants of Shambhala created to keep its enemies from pursuing the true power. I figured it out a little while ago."
"And what is the true power?"
"You haven't figured it out? She's right under our beaks."
Crane stared at the stairway.
"You mean Ember?"
"Ember. The Dragon Empress. A goddess among mortals. I was supposed to capture her while she was still imprisoned. But now it's too late."
His eyes twitched.
"Now where were we?" Tujiu asked. He smiled cruelly up at Crane. "Oh yes. I was going to cut you up."
His head blurred, and then Crane felt the flesh of his thigh tear. He hollered and leapt off of Tujiu. The vulture got up, chuckling loudly, his beak stained red.
Crane was stunned.
He bit me.
"Are you insane?!" Crane yelled in disbelief.
"You don't want me to answer that." Tujiu replied, and he kicked Crane through the doors.