said the little girl, sounding more sad than angry. “How could you lie to your parents and dishonor them that way?”
“I didn’t mean to,” Mulan whispered. “I didn’t.”
Seeing they’d hurt her, more children appeared, flinging withered flowers at Mulan.
They’ll never understand, she thought. Every time I try to explain myself, they twist my words.
Breaking through the crowd, Mulan ran. The villagers parted for her, sneering and hissing as she fled. There wasn’t far to go before she hit the wall. But when she looked up, she found herself back at the training camp with the other soldiers.
She turned back. Gone was the village, and even her home. There were only mountains in the distance, and a line of familiar-looking pitched tents. And an armory of swords, bows, and arrows.
Shang appeared. His lip curled with disdain when he saw her. “What are you doing here? I told you to go home.”
Mulan stood her ground. She raised her chin at the captain. Another one of the chamber’s illusions. “Why do you think I’m here? I am trying to go home.”
Shang stared her down. If not for the hard glass under Mulan’s feet, she might have forgotten he wasn’t real, that he was simply a projection of the Shang waiting for her outside—for her to free them. With every passing second, everything in the Chamber of Mirrors felt more and more real, from the sweat on Shang’s forehead to the wrinkles on his shirt. Even the flags behind him fluttered with the wind, and Mulan thought she could smell pine from the trees in the nearby forest.
Shang grimaced. “To think I considered you my friend. I’ve never been more wrong about anyone in my life.”
“I am your friend.”
“Friend?” Shang laughed. “You nearly got me killed with your foolish maneuver on the Tung-Shao Pass. Shan-Yu was right in front of you, and you missed him! Do you know why you couldn’t defeat him?”
“Because you’re a girl!” said her friend Yao, coming up from behind her.
With him were the rest of the soldiers, Mulan’s friends.
Ling wrinkled his nose at her. “I can’t believe we trained together.”
“Girls can’t be soldiers,” Shang yelled. The men shouted in agreement. “They’re weak, and they cry at the first sign of danger.”
Shang raised his hand, and a gust of wind pushed her to the other side of the field. “Get out of here. You aren’t fit to serve the Emperor.”
Mulan tumbled, falling on her backside. The soldiers laughed, Ling and Yao particularly loudly. Even Chien-Po couldn’t bear to look at her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, getting up. “I belong here.”
“You belong nowhere,” Shang said sharply. “To betray the Emperor is to betray China. Your life is meaningless.”
Mulan swallowed. Even if he wasn’t the real Shang, what he said was true. The Emperor would have her killed if he knew. “You’ve said all this before. But you didn’t mean it.”
“Didn’t I?” Shang scowled. “The penalty for what you’ve done is death.”
Yao grabbed a bow and raised it at Mulan. “Say the word, boss.”
Shang paused, and Mulan thought maybe, maybe she’d gotten through to him. Maybe making everyone see that she wasn’t worthless was the key to getting out of this chamber.
Yao, Chien-Po, and Ling pointed their arrows at her.
She couldn’t even hear the thudding of her heart. The soldiers’ disapproving chorus drowned out her shouts. “No!” Mulan cried again. “Shang, you can’t! This isn’t real.”
“I know it isn’t,” said Shang. To her horror, the captain’s body paled, becoming blue and luminous. He strode out of the mirror to show her he wasn’t a reflection like everyone else. “But I am.”
“No,” she whispered.
“Only one of us leaves Diyu alive,” he said, his jaw tightening with resolve. “I’m afraid it’s not going to be you.”
Then Shang’s eyes, glassy as the mirrors surrounding them, hardened. “FIRE!”
All at once, the mirrors exploded. Thousands of tiny glass shards ripped across the room, flying off in all directions. Mulan crossed her fists in front of her face, blocking her head from the oncoming storm of mirror pieces. Sharp fragments nicked her cheeks and sliced through her sleeves and pants. She tried to fight off the flying shards with her gauntlets, but there were too many of them. The glass beneath her cracked, and the ceiling collapsed. She ducked and covered her head with her hands.
“Stop!” she shouted. “Shang, please!”
The captain lowered his hand. The storm ceased, and the soldiers drew back their weapons. “Had enough?”
Mulan shakily rose to her feet and saw her reflection in the