up to evade the flying glass pieces.
Without a shield, she couldn’t possibly protect herself from every angle. She wouldn’t last long against the mirrors, not unless she broke them. Her tactic had been to defend herself, but that wouldn’t work forever. Even when she aimed her kicks and punches back at the mirrors, more shards fired her way. She picked up a larger piece of glass and held it against herself. The shield was brittle; it wouldn’t last long.
Shang watched from a corner of the chamber, arms crossed and shoulders square. “Give up, Mulan. You’ll never get out of here.”
Teeth gritted, Mulan smashed an oncoming shard with her raised gauntlet. The impact hurt her wrists. Everywhere hurt, really. Her shoulders ached, and glass pierced her knees and legs. Only adrenaline kept her going. “I could do this all day.”
“You don’t have all day,” Shang replied. “And neither do I.”
He turned, heading for that lit path toward the moon—toward freedom. He was leaving without her!
Mulan’s chest tightened. She couldn’t forget the anguish on Shang’s face when Huoguai had taken her, when he thought she’d perish by falling into the waterfall. Shang, the real Shang, cared for her. He wouldn’t betray her like this.
“Wait!” Not caring about the shards anymore, Mulan ran after Shang, ignoring the blasts of pain as the glass smashed against her armor. Weakly, she reached for his arm. “Wait.”
All at once, the camp and the mountains and the trees vanished, blanketing the chamber with a blank darkness. The reflections of her parents, her friends, and the villagers disappeared.
Only Shang remained. He stood in the middle of the moonlit path. His eyes were hard. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“I’m not leaving without you,” said Mulan. She reached for his hand, but a gust of wind shuttled her away from the captain. No matter how she tried to make up the distance, another gust tore them apart.
She blocked her face with her arm until the wind passed. When she looked up again, King Yama’s soldier demons surrounded them. She recognized Languai, the blue one who’d led her across the Bridge of Helplessness. He stood in the front next to Shang, whom his soldiers had tied to a tree.
Before she could begin to fathom what was happening, Languai thrust a wooden bow into her hand. “Kill Captain Li,” he ordered. “Then you may leave Diyu.”
The bow was nocked with a jagged shard of glass. Its sharp point glinted in the chamber’s dim light.
“No,” Mulan whispered. But the demons began to growl at her.
“Kill him, kill him,” they chanted.
“The only way you’ll leave this place is if I die,” said Shang. “I wouldn’t hesitate if I were in your place.”
She lowered the bow and arrow to her side. Was it really him? Deep in her heart, she knew it wasn’t. The real Shang was waiting for her to pass whatever tests awaited her in the Chamber of Mirrors. But maybe that was the test—or rather, the price she had to pay to cross this chamber.
“If it is true that only one of us may leave, then I will stay.”
Shang pressed his lips into a thin, cold line. “Even if it means you’re trapped here forever?”
“King Yama won’t be merciful,” added Languai.
A chill nestled in the nape of her neck, but Mulan didn’t shiver. It didn’t matter whether this was only a test, or whether this was real. Her determination to save her friend wouldn’t waver. If this was the end of her journey, so be it.
“I made a promise to myself that I’d bring you home,” said Mulan, stepping closer to Shang. She straightened. “If I have to break it, then—”
She raised the bow, drawing the string taut. As she pointed the glass arrow at Shang, she saw the captain hold his breath. She waited a beat before releasing the arrow. She couldn’t afford to miss.
“Then I’ll save you.” Her voice cracked as she spoke. “No matter the cost.”
With a snap, the arrow tore across the chamber. During its flight, its glass edges caught all the light of the moon shining above, reflecting a thousand colors. It was a beautiful sight, one that kept Mulan from daring to breathe before the arrow found its target—
And ripped through the rope around Shang’s shoulders, setting him free.
Nearly collapsing with relief, Mulan barely noticed as the bow dissolved in her hand. Everything else disappeared around her: the demons, the tree, the rope—even the glass arrow shattered at Shang’s feet.
Shang’s blue aura shimmered, darkening so