Reflection (Disney Twisted Tales) - Elizabeth Lim Page 0,73
cauldron it’d been named for.
And she’d landed on its rim.
Mulan pulled herself up and reached for her sword. Bruises splotched her body, but she ignored the pain and ran to the edge of the rim to search for Shang and ShiShi.
No sign of them. Or of Huoguai.
Smoke curled everywhere, obscuring her vision.
She clenched her fists. The last time she’d seen Shang and ShiShi, the demon’s fire had ruptured the ground. Maybe they had fallen deeper into Diyu. Maybe they were dead.
They’re still alive, Mulan told herself. They have to be.
But even if Shang and ShiShi were alive, could she find them from up on the peak? Why had Huoguai dropped her off here?
Probably so he can come back for me later, she thought with a shiver.
Fear wrenched Mulan’s gut. How could she defeat a demon powerful enough to split the earth, and strong enough to toss them about as if they were mere checkers pieces?
She coughed, holding her sleeve up to her mouth to keep the ash out of her lungs. She needed to get to the pillar. Reaching it had been their goal before they’d gotten separated, and if there were hope of reuniting with her friends, it’d be there.
As some of the smoke cleared, Mulan took a good, hard look at the pillar. As she’d feared, the pillar was on the opposite side of the River of Hopelessness. Its swirling waters surged across the center of the Cauldron, then plunged off the edge in a black, looming waterfall. Shrill screams resonated from its depths.
Maybe there’s a way around it, she thought with a gulp.
The smoke thickened. Mulan coughed and trod onward, fanning the air with her hands. She spotted an old shield left behind and picked it up. Scorch marks blackened the iron surface, but at least it would protect her as she searched for her friends.
Fire lit the sky.
“Huoguai,” Mulan said, recognizing the swirls of smoke and fire. They were coming from below. She ran to the brink of the Cauldron to get a better look.
Her heart jumped when she spotted Shang and ShiShi on a ledge halfway up the Cauldron. They hadn’t fallen after all!
“Shang!” she shouted. “I’m here!”
Shang, who’d just picked up a spear, heard her. “Mulan! We’re—”
From out of the shadow, Huoguai drew himself up. Against the mountain, Mulan took account of his staggering size. His feet were planted on the ledge, but the tips of his wings nearly reached the top of the Cauldron. Mulan ducked before he grabbed her again. Huoguai raised his wings and punched the side of the mountain. Boulders flew. ShiShi roared, his claws scraping against the ground with a terrible screech. Shang managed to keep his balance. He held his spear above his head, and with one strong swoop, he threw it at Huoguai’s head.
The weapon lodged itself in the demon’s left eye. With a thundering scream, Huoguai plucked the spear out of his eye and burned the weapon in his hands. The spear’s ashes skated across the wind.
Huoguai turned to Shang and ShiShi and opened his mouth again, breathing another terrible blaze. The flames snaked across the side of the volcano. They couldn’t harm Shang. But ShiShi let out a yelp when the fire singed his mane.
Huoguai flew at them. Fiery rocks ripped from the sky, rocketing down to smash Shang and ShiShi. He was playing with them, Mulan realized. Huoguai had countless opportunities to kill ShiShi—and her. But by separating them and toying with them, he was drawing out the inevitable.
That was why he had dropped her off on the peak—on the wrong side of the peak. To torment her, and remind her that time was running out.
Set against the bloodshot sky, the moon tantalized Mulan with its closeness. It was nearly cloaked in shadow, a sliver of its silvery light burnished with the demon’s fire.
She had to do something.
Huoguai lifted his wing and struck at the captain, hurling him deeper into the Underworld. How Mulan wished Shang had learned to float and fly! As the ground shook, he tumbled down the mountain along with ShiShi. If they fell into the river…
“Hey!” Mulan shouted to the demon. “It’s me you want. Not them.”
The fire demon’s coal-black eyes turned to her. They glowed like embers, and the fire in his hands strengthened. Mulan ducked behind her shield, barely evading the column of flames Huoguai blasted her way.
He didn’t stop. Mulan held her shield tight to her chest, bending her head behind it. She smelled her hair burning