Dragon (9 page)

ShaoShu wanted it to be over soon, but he knew that it would not. Tonglong was only getting started. His network of recruiters had grown amazingly quickly because of the bounties he offered, and men and boys were being dragged into his army at a frightening pace. The recruiters’ reach grew longer and faster than even Tonglong’s elite caravan could travel.

As ShaoShu continued down the trail, his thoughts were interrupted by the sight of soldiers pitching tents in a large clearing. One side of the clearing was a thick line of trees. The other side was a tall stone wall that had been damaged in a few places, and beyond the wall was a series of ruined buildings. The buildings had been made of stone and were covered with burn marks. The tile roofs had gaping holes where flames had licked their way through, and all of the doors and windows had been burned away. He wondered why this location had been selected.

“Cangzhen Temple?” a nearby soldier said. “Really? No wonder Warlord Tonglong chose this spot to set up our first real camp. It represents one of his first victories, and I understand that Cangzhen is quite close to the stronghold. Maybe we will finally get a break from this insane pace.”

Cangzhen Temple!
ShaoShu thought. So this was
where Hok and the others had lived! He gave his pony a slap on its rump and steered it toward a crumbled section of the wall. He wanted to take a look around before someone put him to work.

ShaoShu made it through the gap without attracting any attention and jumped off his pony. What a horrible attack this must have been. Besides the burn marks, there were huge dark stains along the sides of many of the buildings that could only have been blood. He could not imagine two thousand soldiers armed with cannons and muskets attacking one hundred monks who had little more than sticks and swords.

Soldiers began to call out for ShaoShu, but he was eager to see more. He tied his pony to a piece of rubble and headed deeper into the destruction.

When he had heard about his friends growing up at Cangzhen Temple, ShaoShu had imagined one building. However, it was actually a collection of many buildings, with the high wall surrounding everything. He kept close to the wall, scurrying in its shadow, and soon reached one of the compound’s back corners. Here he found a small building with something shiny on the roof. Of course, he could not resist finding out what it was. He looked around and saw a thin clay drainpipe running straight up one corner of the building. It stopped at an ornate stone dragon overhanging the roofline.

ShaoShu shinnied up the pipe, climbed over the dragon, and stopped dead in his tracks. There was
another dragon on the roof, hidden behind the stone one—only this second dragon was real! It bared its pointed teeth at him, stuck out its forked tongue, and growled, “Get out!”

ShaoShu let out a small shriek and leaped back, tripping over the stone dragon. He was beginning to tumble off the roof when the real dragon stabbed its sharp claws into his collar and jerked him to safety.

The dragon clamped another claw over ShaoShu’s mouth and hissed in his ear, “Hush, ShaoShu! It’s me, Ying.”

S
haoShu felt the pressure released from his mouth and collar, and he stared. It was indeed Ying.

“I apologize,” Ying said. “I did not recognize you at first.”

ShaoShu shrugged. He was not sure if he should be frightened or ecstatic. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I might ask you the same thing. However, I think I can guess what is happening. Tonglong is stopping here on the way to the Forbidden City.”

“Actually, he is stopping here on his way to the bandits’ former stronghold. We are going to wait there with a man named Commander Woo until the troops arrive from the south and east.”

“Nice work,” Ying said. “What else do you know?”

“Lots of things,” ShaoShu replied. “For one, Tonglong is a very bad man. Sometimes, when he wants information from someone and they won’t give it to him, he tortures them by—”

“I can imagine,” Ying interrupted. “Look, we do not have much time to talk. Can you give me any specific troop information? How many men does Tonglong have?”

“Ninety-nine. He calls them his ‘elite force.’ They are nasty, and they love to use pistols. They wear red uniforms like the one I am wearing, and like the Southern army wears.”

“How many men is he expecting to arrive later?”

“No one knows for sure. He has tens of thousands already, and he gets more every day. It is unbelievable.”

Ying spat. “This is far more serious than I thought. The Forbidden City has its own sizable force, but I believe it is only a few thousand men. Tonglong might be able to overrun it with sheer numbers. I need to get to him before he reaches the Forbidden City. You said that he is going to see Commander Woo now?”

“I believe so,” ShaoShu said.

“Do you know anything about their short-term plans?”

“One man Tonglong tortured told him that the bandits are training a rebel army. Tonglong wants to hunt them down and exterminate them before he gets to the Forbidden City.”

“Thank you, ShaoShu. This helps a lot. You are
very brave for staying with Tonglong all this time. Do you have any news about the Emperor?”

“Tonglong has captured him and is keeping him alive at least until we get to the Forbidden City. Everyone knows that the Emperor is traveling with Tonglong, but they think the Emperor is traveling in style with the main army. We are actually transporting him secretly, against his will, in a crate built to carry pigs. It stinks so bad no one goes near it. He is all alone inside. I sneak him extra food and water every once in a while, even though I have been punished once for doing it.”

“That is very kind of you,” Ying said. “What about Hok and the others?”

“Seh is supposed to be with the bandits, and Hok, Malao, and Fu were going to try to find him. I bet Long went with them, plus a man called Xie, who was the Emperor’s personal bodyguard. Tonglong killed Xie’s father—the Western Warlord. Tonglong even killed his own mother, AnGangseh. He is heartless.”

Ying scowled. “This is unbelievable. I have been alone in the mountains and knew almost none of this. I need to find the bandits and give them an update as soon as possible. Do you know where they might be?”

“No. Tonglong plans to ask Commander Woo the same question when we get to the stronghold. What were you doing in the mountains?”

“Practicing.”

“Practicing what?”

Ying reached behind him and lifted a rusty straight sword from the rooftop. The blade was covered with
scaly clumps of orange and red, but the handle was shiny and gold and covered with entwined dragons. While ShaoShu hated weapons, he considered this one beautiful. It must have been what had caught his eye while he was on the ground.

“Wow,” ShaoShu said. “Is that yours?”

“I suppose it is now,” Ying replied in a sad tone. “It belonged to the Grandmaster of this temple, my grandfather. I threw it up here after I killed him, so that it could die, too. I have decided to try to breathe life back into it. Perhaps it will help me right some of my wrongs.”

ShaoShu did not know what to say. He looked away to avoid eye contact with Ying, and noticed a soldier headed in their direction. Fortunately, the man seemed to be looking inside the buildings, not up on the rooftops. He shouted into the doorway of a nearby structure, “ShaoShu! Where are you, you little rodent? I am not in the mood for hide-and-seek. Get out here and give us a hand!”

“Uh-oh,” ShaoShu said. “I had better get going.”

Ying nodded. “It was good seeing you.”

“You too.” ShaoShu turned to go, then stopped and reached deep into the folds of his robe. He pulled out the two dragon scrolls he had stolen from Tonglong, and held them out for Ying. “I almost forgot these. Maybe you can use them. One even has sketches of a guy holding a sword like your grandfather’s in one hand, and a chain whip like yours in the other hand.”

Ying’s eyes widened and he took the scrolls from ShaoShu, unrolling them quickly. When Ying saw the sketches of the figure with a sword and a chain whip, ShaoShu swore that he was going to kiss him. Fortunately, Ying only patted him on the head.

“You amaze me,” Ying whispered with a wide grin, but then he frowned.

“What?” ShaoShu asked.

“I just realized that Tonglong will have read this scroll. He will be familiar with the techniques shown in it. No matter. Knowing what the enemy knows is half the battle. Get out of here, my little friend. You have given me more than I deserve.”

ShaoShu beamed. He gave Ying a quick wave and scurried back down the drainpipe to rejoin Tonglong’s men.

S
eh felt the newcomer’s stare from across the bandit camp. His flesh began to tingle, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. While his vision continued to improve, he did not need his eyes to know who had just arrived. Only a dragon could project that much energy.

Seh bowed to the thirty spear-wielding students around him, and he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. The students returned the bow and hurried off.

Seh focused his gaze in the direction of the camp’s only trailhead. It was his brother Long, accompanied by NgGung, Hung, and PawPaw. They had two horse-drawn carts with them. Long handed the reins of one of the horses to NgGung, and he waved to Seh. Seh waved back, a smile on his face.

“You can see us?” PawPaw called out to Seh in an astonished tone.

“Yes,” Seh replied. “Your dragon bone treatment is working miracles. Thank you.”

“Excellent!” PawPaw said. “How much do you have left?”

“Between what you have given me and the large amount Hok brought, I believe I have enough to last three hundred and fifty years!”

PawPaw laughed. “That is good news. I suppose I will not have to worry about finding more for you, then. It is scarce enough as it is. Is your father here?”

“Yes. He is in his tent.”

“Very good. NgGung, Hung, and I need to speak with him immediately. I suppose you would like to visit with your older brother?”

“Nothing would please me more.”

Hung, NgGung, and PawPaw headed for a large tent in the center of camp, and Long came over to Seh. Long was grinning, but he had a strange expression on his face. He stared at Seh.

“It is good to see you again, Brother Seh,” Long said finally.

“Likewise,” Seh replied.

Long stared again.

“Is there something bothering you?” Seh asked. “My appearance, perhaps?”

“It confuses me,” Long said. “Your presence feels the same, but you look very different with hair. You resemble Tonglong from a distance, but now that I see
you up close, you look a surprising amount like your mother. Not to worry, I will grow used to it.”

Seh frowned. “I do not wish to look like either one. You are not the first person to say these things. I am considering shaving my head like we used to at Cangzhen Temple.”

“Maybe you should, only then you may look like your father.”

“He
is
bald, but I will never look like him. No one does. Sometimes I wish I were more like Fu, who looks a lot like his father. And you should see Hok with her mother, Bing, as well as Hok’s little sister, GongJee. They all look alike, and they are all very nice individuals.”

“Are they here?” Long asked.

“Only GongJee is. Fu, Malao, Hok, Bing, and a few others have gone out on a reconnaissance mission to the bandits’ former stronghold. There has been a lot of activity reported in that area recently.”

“Tonglong’s troops?”

“We think so. Or at least a small portion of his troops. What it means for us is that we may have to move our camp—again. I have only been here a few months, and we have already moved three times. This camp may not look like much, but it is an unbelievable amount of work packing up and moving.”

Long nodded, and Seh watched him gaze from tent to tattered tent.

“There are a few hundred of us here,” Seh said. “But large groups of men join us every week. We spend
nearly all of our time preparing for war—carving spear shafts, sharpening weapons, and forging pistol balls, even though we have few firearms.”